


Set The Earth On Fire

by AwakeAndAliveSpartan



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Experimentation, F/M, Now Skyeward, Technically in two parts, Torture, Ward is Hellfire, will definitely show up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-21
Updated: 2015-07-21
Packaged: 2018-04-05 09:28:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 23
Words: 40,997
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4174743
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AwakeAndAliveSpartan/pseuds/AwakeAndAliveSpartan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Lincoln is kidnapped by a group experimenting on Inhumans, Skye and the team come running to the rescue. But they end up finding out there's someone else there imprisoned as well for reasons they didn't want to find out. Ward. The mission ends up turning to saving Ward from the group and the experiments they're subjecting him to. Before it's too late. (Spoilers for S2.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One (The Forgotten and Betrayed)

They had found Skye beaten, bloodied and unconscious, lying in a field near where she and Lincoln had gone to find a supposed gifted that was marked as highly dangerous. A distress call had been sent out, presumably by Skye, since Lincoln was nowhere to be seen. They managed to get Skye back to a jet before she jerked awake.

"Lincoln!" she screamed, her powers causing the aircraft to shake beneath them.

Coulson hurried over to her and placed his one hand on her, "Skye, it's us. Well, me, Bobbi, Hunter, and May. Fitzsimmons and Mack are back at base waiting for us." he said calmly, trying not to scare her even more.

Skye blinked, realizing where she was at. Her face fell, seeing the SHIELD agents around her, "Coulson? What? What happened?" she asked, rubbing her sore head.

"A distress call was sent out, I think by you." Coulson began to explain. "We came and found you unconscious and alone in the field near where you and Lincoln were supposed to apprehend that rouge gifted." He took a slow, steady breath, "Skye, we couldn't find Lincoln. Where is he?"

Skye's face paled as she looked around the jet, "I-I really don't know." she stammered. "We were ambushed. Men in black armor, almost like Iron Man in a way. I managed to get away, but I think… I think they took Lincoln." she explained.

May crossed her arms, "Hydra?" she questioned.

Skye shook her head, "No, I don't think so." she replied. "Didn't seem like any Hydra agents I've ever seen. It was someone else. Someone after gifteds, I suppose."

"Like Iron Man though?" Hunter asked, going back to Skye's description of the men from earlier.

"Kind of. But the entire front of their helmets was some kind of glass-like material. They were prepared to fight us. For some reason, I couldn't use my powers. They had inhibitors or something." Skye answered. "Neither could Lincoln."

Coulson's face twisted up, "Great, now someone else other than the remains of Hydra that we have to deal with." he spat. "No names? Anything?"

Skye shook her head, "Other than a symbol of a snake circling around a world etched onto their black armor in red print." she stated. "That's all."

Bobbi raised an eyebrow, "But that's a start. Look up strange, gifted-kidnapping organizations with that kind of symbol representing them." she said, still distraught at Lincoln's kidnapping.

"Doesn't sound that easy." Hunter grumbled.

"But it'll do something." Coulson stated, looking at the other team members. He looked back to Skye, "We're getting you back to base so we can get you patched up. We already searched the area and couldn't find Lincoln anywhere, so this strange organization already has him.

But we'll find him. And if we're lucky, defeat another organization that wants to use gifteds for their own gain." he continued. "I'm tired of this evil organizations thing. Just for once, I would like some peace and quiet."

* * *

(Elsewhere, Later)

Lincoln groaned, opening his eyes to a bright light above him, his back pressed up against a cold, steel floor. He bolted up, his eyes meeting a large, steel door with a small, rectangular window in front of him. "What the hell?" he muttered.

The sound of shuffling sounded behind him. He froze as someone began to talk. "It's about time your ass woke up. Still don't see why they threw someone in here along with me. I liked being alone. Doesn't help when it's you."

Lincoln frowned, standing up and turning around to see a man sitting on a cot attached to the wall behind him. The man was white with a slight tan, muscular, had black, spiky hair, along with the stubble of a beard. And he was familiar-looking.

The man remained silent, his brown eyes studying Lincoln, up and down. Lincoln studied him too, trying to figure out why the man looked so familiar. Then it hit him.

This man had fought SHIELD about half a year ago when he was still fairly new to the team., Lincoln remembered. It was because of some revenge-driven craze, because the man had once been part of the team and something had happened between them. He remembered the crazed look in the man's eyes as he tried to kill them. But now that was gone, replaced by a cold, dull light.

But he couldn't remember his name. Lincoln only really stayed around Skye and Fitzsimmons, especially since Simmons had been rescued from that damn rock. But they never called the man by his name, only 'asshole', 'traitor', or 'backstabbing bastard'. And a few other names that made Lincoln cringe.

Lincoln narrowed his eyes towards the man, "I know you." he said. "You're that asshole that tried to kill us."

The man's face fell and Lincoln saw a muscle twitch near his eye. "Don't ever call me that." he spat. "I would like to put that behind me. That was half a year ago, not now. I'm different now."

"Different how?"

The man's face showed amusement, "In more ways than you know." he responded. "But now's not the time for that."

Lincoln frowned, wanting to move the subject to something else. If he was locked in with this crazy guy, he better find something that wouldn't set him off. "Where am I anyways?" he asked, surveying the room.

The man shrugged, "I don't know location-wise, but it's part of some company named Biogen." he replied. "Some company acting under the mantra of bettering human life. You know, curing all diseases and enhancing life." He snorted, "Yeah, right. They're doing that by experimenting on Inhumans and gifteds." he continued. "Drawing their blood and other things to create serums. I even think that this place is trying to create their own breed of gifteds."

Lincoln's stomach twisted, "Why?" he asked.

The man's lips curled into a smile, "If everyone has powers, no one's different. Everyone's superior." he replied. "I actually heard someone here say just that. It's almost like Hitler wanting a superior race. But in this case, everyone has powers."

Lincoln now was starting to become sick, realizing that he was in mortal danger here. "W-What are they doing to us?" he asked.

The man snorted again, "It's complicated." he stated. "It's almost like a fight ring down here. They pit gifteds and Inhumans against one another to see who's stronger. The loser gets killed 'cause their 'weak'. The winner gets to stay alive." The man paused, swallowing a lump in his throat, "But they're the ones subjected to the experiments. Blood drawn about to the point of being dry. Being cut upon…" Pain filled his eyes, "It's worse with me. I heal fast. They make a cut and by the time they make another, the first one's heal."

Lincoln almost felt sorry for the man, but why should he? This man tried to kill him just months ago. But something seemed off. Just months ago, this man had no powers. "Wait,when you tried to kill us," Lincoln began. "You weren't gifted. What happened?"

Amusement sparkled in the man's eyes again, "A lot happens in six months." he said. "I've been here for three. I got my powers four months ago, that's what ended my idiotic 'revenge' plan."

"What are your powers?" Lincoln asked.

"Like I would show you." the man retorted. "Once you get out of here, you'll squeal to Coulson about me. Anyways, there's inhibitors in here. Can't use powers in the cells. Only the ring and the test labs." The man smiled again, a red light glowing in his eyes, "It's hell in here."

The red light in the man's eyes took Lincoln by surprise, and he stepped back a bit. But he didn't say anything.

The man laughed and came to his feet, "But I'm not going to kill you, unless you try to kill me. If I kill you and SHIELD happens to come running, they'll kill me 'cause you're dead. It's better to keep your ass alive in here." he said.

Again, Lincoln didn't say anything.

Leaning forward, the man continued, "Listen to what I have to say, and you'll make it out of here. I've been here long enough to know the ropes of this place. Step out of line here and you're dead. So if you want to stay alive, listen to me." he said, his voice hushed.

Hesitating, Lincoln nodded, not believing that he was agreeing to his team's enemy. But it seemed like the man was telling the truth. Was he?

The man smiled, "Good." he stated simply, studying Lincoln again. "Good."

Lincoln gulped, "What's your name anyways?" he asked. "I've never heard your actual name other than 'asshole', 'bastard', and a few other things that I rather not mention right now."

The man scoffed, "Of course they would call me that." But he frowned, "You tell me yours and I'll tell you mine. It's not good to be strangers here. It's best to have people close to you."

Again, Lincoln gulped, his palms sweaty, "L-Lincoln Campbell." he stammered, still kind of afraid of the man.

The man smiled slightly, "Grant Ward."


	2. Chapter Two (Love Left Me Hollow)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lincoln is taken for 'processing' and the team finds who possibly kidnapped him. Ward isn't too fond of him either.

Ward continued to study Lincoln, up and down. He knew that he could take this guy down in an instant, even without his powers. Why did SHIELD let in a guy like this? He didn't seem much like a fighter.

Lincoln frowned from the cot opposite of Ward, realizing that he was staring at him. "Why are you still staring at me?" he asked. "Don't you realize that that's creepy?"

Ward raised an eyebrow, "There's not much to look at in here." he commented. "And it's the first time they've put someone in here with me."

That rubbed Lincoln the wrong way. His stomach fell, "Uh, why?" he asked.

"Apparently I'm 'dangerous'." Ward smirked, making quotation marks in the air with his hands. "Just 'cause I killed two guards when they first locked me up doesn't mean anything. Several of the prisoners here have done the same thing."

Lincoln's stomach churned, "There has to be more than just that." he stated hesitantly.

Ward looked down, "Yeah, you're right. There is." he muttered. "The first guy they put in here… He was an asshole. Wouldn't stop talking. And he tried to beat me up. I snapped and retaliated. Smashed his skull into the wall, repeatedly." he explained. "Guy deserved it though."

Lincoln gulped, realizing that this guy was still deranged. Why would they put him in a cell with a crazy guy like that? It made no sense whatsoever.

"Didn't even use my powers." There was a slight gleam of amusement in Ward's eyes. "But you can't in here, already said that."

And with that, Lincoln turned his gaze from Ward and didn't say anything else to the man. Knowing what he could do when he snapped, Lincoln didn't want to say the wrong thing to Ward. He didn't want to die like that.

Ward narrowed his eyes at Lincoln, but nodded slowly and looked to the floor. He embraced this silence, just how he liked it. He didn't appreciate the fact that the Biogen scientists threw in someone else along with him. Especially since it was someone that was with his old team.

Someone that Skye had replaced him with. But Ward shouldn't care, should he? He abandoned that hope of being with Skye long ago, when he decided to go on that idiotic 'revenge' craze. But it still bothered him.

Ward looked up to Lincoln, who still kept his gaze from him, "So, are you and Skye together?" he asked.

Lincoln frowned and looked up, "Excuse me?" he asked.

"You heard me. Are you and Skye together?" Ward repeated, his eyes cold.

Narrowing his eyes, Lincoln responded, "What does it matter to you?" he questioned. "Skye hates you. Why would you care that whether we're together or not?"

Ward kept his cold gaze on Lincoln, "You didn't answer my question. Are you and Skye together?"

Lincoln sighed and shook his head, "No, we're not 'together'. We're just friends. That's all."

"You two were awfully close last time I, uh, saw you." Ward stated, turning away from the fact that the last time they actually met was when he was trying to kill them.

"That was because I was hurt because of your ass." Lincoln almost spat. "You shot me. In the shoulder. She was making sure that I was okay. But no, we're not together. I don't know why you would want to know."

Ward shrugged, "Whatever." he said, no emotion. But Lincoln's response actually relieved him. He was glad that the guy wasn't with Skye. He didn't seem like someone Skye would be with.

Ward threw his legs over his cot, laying down. He was just going to ignore whatever Lincoln had to say now. He just wanted silence. Well, he wasn't going to get that.

The big, metal door swung open, revealing one of the scientists, who had personally experimented on Ward already, and two of the armored men. Ward jolted up just as the scientist pointed at Lincoln and the two men came in and restrained him.

"What the hell are you doing?" Ward asked coldly.

The scientist frowned and turned to look at Ward. "Processing." he stated coldly. "But that isn't a matter that concerns you, Hellfire."

Ward narrowed his eyes at the name Biogen had given him here. Here, he wasn't Grant Ward. He was only 'Hellfire'.

Lincoln tried to fight back against the guards, but he couldn't do anything since he couldn't use his powers. His eyes darted to Ward, "Processing? What the hell does that mean?!" he exclaimed.

Ward wasn't worried now. Hell, he didn't even care. Processing wasn't bad. It was drawing blood and a few other things. It wasn't like they were going to kill him or anything like that. "You'll be fine. Suck it up." he deadpanned, dropping back down on the cot.

The scientist laughed and looked back to Lincoln, "Looks like Hellfire here doesn't like you." he jeered. "But he's right. But let's see what makes you tick."

Lincoln had no choice but to let the guards drag him out of the room. He was both scared and pissed. Well, pissed at Ward for showing no remorse for him and scared at the fact that he didn't know what processing meant.

What the hell did they do here anyways?

* * *

(SHIELD Base)

"I've looked at several things that had a symbol close to the guys that supposedly kidnapped Lincoln." Fitz said. "Only one group comes close to the snake encircling the world thing."

Coulson raised an eyebrow, "Really, what is it?" he asked, looking around the room to make sure that the entire team was listening.

"A group named Biogen." Fitz replied.

Hunter frowned, "Isn't that a pharmaceutical company or something?" he asked.

May nodded, "It is." she replied. "Some company seeking to cure all diseases and bettering human life. Makes sense now."

Skye's face fell, "Are you telling me that a pharmaceutical company is kidnapping Inhumans?" she asked. "Including Lincoln?"

Simmons now spoke up. "It's possible that they're testing and messing with an Inhuman's makeup to see what they can do with that." she guessed. "I don't know what they can get from that, but there's no telling to what they could do. And there's no telling what they're doing to Inhumans if that's what they are doing."

Coulson took a sharp breath, looking to Skye and Fitz, "Is it possible if you two could find some kind of experimental base or something?" he asked. "Check all Biogen structures and see if there's anything out of the ordinary about them. That could possibly highlight a base like that. And there would be more Inhumans there than just Lincoln locked up. If we can, free them, well if they're not insane or dangerous or anything like that."

Fitz and Skye both nodded. "We can try." Skye said.

Coulson nodded, "Good."

Well, Coulson was right about there being more than Lincoln just locked up at the Biogen facility. But they would hate to find out the danger that was also kept there as well. 'Cause everything around them would burn to the ground.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Keep the comments and kudos coming! And I don't know when I'll update next. I have knee surgery tomorrow and probably won't feel like writing for a few days. But I promise by the end of the week though!


	3. Chapter Three (Bury The Wounds Deep Inside)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The horrors of the arena are revealed...

Ward stared up at the ceiling of the metal cell, thoughts swarming around in his head. It hadn't been long since the scientist, Laiyon he believed, took Lincoln to processing. And it didn't bother Ward one bit. Processing was nothing.

It was drawing blood and running a few tests. Nothing more than confirming that Lincoln was an Inhuman and to see what his powers were. And Ward had already seen the guy's powers. Electricity. Biogen would have a field day with him. Just like they did with himself.

Ward grimaced at the memory. He was the most prized subject here. Having pyrokinesis and regenerative healing wasn't a good thing here. Biogen scientists were always testing on him, even if it wasn't after a fight. Ward already suspected that they were planning something bigger with him.

But with Lincoln being here, he knew that it wouldn't be long before SHIELD showed up to break him out. And that would be Ward's escape. He could finally be alone and free, just like what he wanted. All he had to do was evade SHIELD's detection and Biogen's armored soldiers, which shouldn't be hard for him.

And Ward knew that he had to keep Lincoln alive for his own sake. If Lincoln died here and SHIELD figured out that Ward was here all along, they would blame him for Lincoln's death. Even if he had nothing to do with it.

Ward sighed, closing his eyes. It was nice to have some silence for once. Ever since Lincoln was thrown in with him, there had been no quiet. Either Lincoln was asking him some stupid question or there was someone checking on them. Ward knew that they were checking to see if he hadn't killed Lincoln yet.

He breathed in, enjoying the stark silence. He laid there for what only seemed like a few minutes until the door flung wide open again with a harsh bang. Ward jerked up again to see the fight coordinator, Loryn was his last name, along with two black-armored guards.

Ward knew what this meant. This meant that a fight had been scheduled between him and someone else. The fight for his survival. The fight to ensure that he stayed on top, while someone else was killed just because they lost. It always hurt Ward to know that the person he beat was killed just after, but he couldn't help it. It was something had just happened, something that he couldn't stop.

"Let me guess," Ward began in a dry tone. "Another fight?" He secretly feared that he would end up fighting Lincoln. But they wouldn't pit him against a newbie. It took time until someone got to fight him.

Loryn nodded, scratching the scraggy, black beard that covered the bottom-half of his face. A slight smile flickered on his dry lips, "Yes, another fight, Hellfire." he responded. Once again, Ward wasn't Ward, just 'Hellfire'.

"But it's against a promising subject. He's been here a while. We call him Veil." Loryn began to explain. "Powers of camouflage. But he's not Inhuman, just gifted." The coordinator's smile fell slightly, "Well, not really that promising. Can't do all that much. You know what to do."

Ward rolled his eyes, tugging at his close-fitting athletic shirt that Biogen had stuck him in, "Yeah, I know. Go into the ring, dance around the guy for a little bit, and then throw a fireball at him. I got it." he retorted.

"I don't need that sarcastic tone." Loryn deadpanned. "But be careful with Veil. He hides in plain sight. And he'll lunge at you and kill you."

A smile tugged at Ward's lips, "He can't kill me if I'm covered in fire." he stated. "No one can."

Loryn smiled, "Good. I don't want to lose my prized sub-, I mean fighter."

* * *

(Elsewhere)

"Hey! Watch it!" Lincoln exclaimed as two of the black-armored guards pushed him along a long, dark hallway. Everything hurt because the scientists had poked and prodded at him and even drew some blood. But Ward had been right, Lincoln had been okay during processing. It wasn't much.

"Where are you taking me?!" he yelled.

"Fight viewings are mandatory for all subjects." one of the guards replied in a cold tone. "Let's them know who they could possibly be up against."

Lincoln gulped as the guards dragged him along. Ward had told him about the fights. Pitting gifteds and Inhumans against each other until the stronger one stood. And the weaker one was killed off by a 'clean-up' crew later. It was all a ruse for Biogen to have the strongest gifteds for their experiments, masquerading as entertainment for the subjects who didn't know the truth yet.

"Who's, uh, fighting?" Lincoln asked quietly.

The other guard laughed slightly, "You'll see. He's the best here. And I think the fight's already underway, I wouldn't be surprised if it's already over. Hellfire's that good."

Lincoln's stomach fell as screaming and cheering could be heard. He had heard the scientist from earlier call Ward 'Hellfire'. Ward had talked about the fights and said he had been in a lot of them, but he never said that he was the top subject or whatever here. No wonder why the man was so dangerous.

He squinted as the guards drug him into bright light and threw him into a set of what seemed to be bleachers. Lincoln groaned and sat up, his eyes adjusting to the light change and his ears taking in the loud screams of the other subjects around him.

Looking around him, Lincoln saw several dozen screaming people, some clearly not human and other that were like him. Looked human, but really weren't. But none of them paid any attention to him, their eyes were fixated on the ring.

Lincoln frowned and turned to see only one figure in the Biogen ring. The ring was made of some kind of steel substance, a massive fence all around it. The lone figure that stood in the middle of the ring was  _on fire_ to Lincoln's disbelief. But he had seen stranger things back in Afterlife.

Was this Ward? Everyone called him Hellfire, and this guy was on fire, so that had to be him. Ward never told Lincoln what his powers were. All he ever did was have his eyes glow a demonic-red to scare Lincoln. So all of this was new to him.

The flaming figure, Lincoln didn't want to go ahead and say that it was Ward, stood frozen in the center of the ring. It looked as though what Lincoln guessed was his head turned, so he was looking around. But where was the other guy?

Lincoln's eyes widened as the man's right arm shot out and suddenly another man appeared in his hand. The crowd screamed in favor of 'Hellfire'. Camouflage or invisibility, Lincoln thought. That had to be the other guy's powers.

He watched in horror as fire engulfed the other man and he started to scream in agony, but that only made the crowd cheer louder. The fire man threw the guy to the ground, his screams dying out as the flames burnt him to a crisp, killing him.

"And your winner is Hellfire!" a voice over an intercom screamed out.

All of this made Lincoln feel sick. Making gifteds and Inhumans fight one another to the death was just wrong. But he figured that the Hellfire guy was just doing it for survival.

Lincoln looked back to see the flames extinguishing off of the man, revealing that it was really Ward underneath. Ward looked towards the crowd, giving Lincoln a small smile as he found him. But Lincoln, as far as he could see, could tell that Ward looked pained. Like what he just did was mentally hurting him, and it probably was.

Ward had told him that the fights were all about survival.  _"It's either win or die down there."_ he had told him.  _"And I kill my opponents because death by my hand is much better than what the Biosyn clean-up teams do to them. But you really don't 'win' down there. You get experimented on each time you win. For at least an hour straight. There are no winners here."_

Lincoln watched as two of the black-armored guards came into the area and escorted Ward out of there, just as a crew of weird-armored people came in to clean up the burnt corpse. He watched as Ward was led away to the experimental area as guards started to round up the subjects in the stands.

And there was no telling what would happen to Ward in that area, what the scientists would do to him. As Lincoln was led by a guard back to his cell, he wondered how long it would be until he had to fight. How long it would be until he had to face the flames of Hellfire? Would Ward keep his promise not to kill him then? Lincoln shuttered at the thought as the guard shoved him back into the now-empty cell.

And Ward's words echoed in his head,  _"There are no winners here."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Keep the comments and kudos coming!


	4. Chapter Four (One of a Dying Breed)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something is starting to happen to Ward...

(Sometime Later)

Lincoln jerked up in his cot as the steel door swung wide open. He watched in fear as two of the black-armored guards drug a half-awake Ward into the room and threw him into his cot, slamming up against the wall. The two guards turned around and quickly left the room, slamming the massive door behind them.

His attention turned to Ward, who slumped into the bed after hitting the wall. Lincoln saw a cut on his face, that probably had been from the wall itself, close up and heal right in front of him, leaving only some blood behind. He stood up, "Ward, are you okay?" he asked quietly, not sure if he wanted to disturb the guy or not after seeing him fight. But he needed to make sure whether he was alive or not. "Are you okay?"

He frowned as what seemed to be a deep growl rumbled in Ward's chest. He backed up, holding his hands slightly up. "Ward?" he repeated.

"I heard you. Stop talking." Ward hissed, slowly pulling himself up. "You don't have to keep repeating my damn name." His tone was harsh and low, different than it had been early that morning.

Lincoln blinked, stepping back a bit when he saw that Ward's eyes has adopted a wild look to them. They weren't glowing red or anything like that, but they were glazed over and darted all over the room, like he was looking for something. Or someone. His wild gaze frisked Lincoln up and down.

He frowned as he thought that Ward was watching him like a predator watched its prey. Something was wrong. "Are you okay?" Lincoln asked, keeping away from Ward.

Ward narrowed his eyes, "What did I say about not talking?" he asked coldly, wiping at the blood on his face. "Anyways, I'm fine. You don't have to keep asking me. All they did was draw some blood and cut on me some more. You don't have to be so worried."

Lincoln raised an eyebrow, looking Ward over. His hair was wild, sticking up in many places. His Biogen black clothing seemed to be torn and even singed. Blood stained his bare arms. It was clear that he had gotten into a fight. But what had the Biogen scientists done to him?

"Are you sure?" Lincoln continued. "You were gone for  _hours,_ Ward." he stressed. "They had to do way more than just that." He looked at Ward's beaten-up form and lowered his voice, "You can tell me if they did something  _to_ you."

Lincoln was afraid for what Ward would respond with. To be honest, he didn't really care. But if Biogen had done something to Ward that would make him go crazy or something, he would like to know before it actually happened.

A muscle twitched in Ward's face, "No. They didn't." he growled. "Go to hell. And stop asking me so many freaking questions, my head hurts. Shut up and leave me alone." he hissed, dropping his head to the cot's pillow.

Frowning, Lincoln sat back down on the edge of his cot. He started to really wonder what Biogen was doing to Ward when they took him for the 'experiments'. God, he really wished that SHIELD would hurry up and find him. He didn't care what happened to Ward at this point. The guy was still a complete and utter ass to him, so Lincoln didn't really have any feelings for him.

But it did seem that Ward was really trying to protect him for some God forsaken reason. It had been something about keeping him alive so SHIELD wouldn't kill him. So Ward was just doing it for his own gain. But as long as Lincoln got out of here alive and got to be with the others again, he really didn't care what Ward was doing.

Lincoln looked back to Ward, who had seemed to pass out asleep on the cot. He was now really wondering what Biogen was doing to him. He didn't think that their true goal was creating more gifted. Well, maybe it was, but it wasn't that simple. He really didn't know.

But, actually, he didn't want to know.

He took a breath and swung his feet back on the cot, wincing as pain from earlier in the morning came back. Lincoln laid his head down and stared at the bare ceiling, an uneasy feeling growing in his stomach.

Biogen  _had_ started to do something to Ward in their labs. And it was bad. Lincoln just didn't know it yet.

* * *

(SHIELD Base, A Few Hours Later)

"Sir," Skye said, coming into Coulson's office. "Fitz and I have found a location, well we think we have."

Coulson looked up from the files on his desk and raised an eyebrow for Skye to go on. "Well, where is it?" he asked.

Skye took a breath, "It was complicated. Fitz and I had to look at a list of Biogen facilities, listing them by use and location. We found one that is listed for 'experimental use' and the details of it are classified. And get this, it's on a small Pacific island. A long way from any civilization." she explained.

Coulson nodded, "Experimental, classified, secluded. Sounds like where subjects would be kept for illegal experimentation." he stated. "We'll go in and get Lincoln, bust their operation, and free whatever prisoners we can. Kill them if you have to, but  _only_ if you have to. And that's if they're completely crazy or murderous, things like that. And I wouldn't be surprised if they're like this in a place like that."

"What do you think that they could be doing in a place like that?" Skye asked.

Coulson shrugged, "I don't know and I don't want to know." he replied. "But whatever it is, it's got to be stopped. And there's no telling what they're doing to Lincoln, so we've got to get there as fast as we can."

"So, what's the plan, boss?"

"Everyone's going. Mack and Fitzsimmons will provide support back from the jet, watching the area for anything weird. That will leave me, you, May, Hunter, and Morse to go and do what we've got to do." Coulson explained. "Find Lincoln, free whoever we can, and shut that place down. And it's possible that some of the prisoners could be good candidates for Project Caterpillars. Possibly."

Skye rubbed her right hand, "Are you sure?" she asked.

"Hell if I know. But we're leaving soon. So get ready."

* * *

(Elsewhere)

"How is the process with Hellfire coming along?"

"Good, I guess. But he put up one hell of a fight earlier. One of the lab techs got burned. We had to administer the special sedative we made for him in order to calm him down and get him to the table.

His abilities are still remarkable. Healing is still at top capacity and his pryokinesis as well. We started to give him the serum to break down his mind, and I believe that it's already starting to work."

"Forgive me, sir, but what is the serum for again?"

"To leave no agency left. It's so he can't fight back when we administer the other serums to give him what we want. He needs to be faster and stronger in order to be the Paragon, our model for our next generation of gifteds. I particularly don't care about the generation having pryokinesis, but his healing ability is what we need. And he's the strongest, not lifting weight wise, but we'll deal with that. He's the perfect candidate once the erasure serum fully takes effect. Nothing but a shell. A puppet."

"How long until this fully happens?"

"A week or two, depending if everything goes the way it should. We'll have our Paragon."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Keep the comments and kudos coming!


	5. Chapter Five (Darkness is Overtaking)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> SHIELD finally shows up, and it's clear that Ward is becoming different.

It wasn't until the next morning that Ward started to act somewhat normal again, or what Lincoln thought was somewhat normal. He was still irritable, but nowhere near he had been yesterday. So whatever the scientists had done to him must've had died down for now.

And Lincoln judged that he had been here for at least four days, he really didn't know. But the scientists had only tested on him once, but he knew that it was far from over if SHIELD didn't find him soon. He sighed, walking down the hallway towards the ring.

Biogen had ordered everyone to watch a fight that morning. Lincoln didn't particularly care about them, but it was better than staying in the cell with the explosive Ward. And he had to walk alone, because Ward had taken a different path for some reason.

Lincoln held his breath as he went into the stand, surrounded by some strange-looking people. Some scaled, some very hairy, and others that looked completely normal. He sat down on the cold metal, facing the ring. Not until a gruff, angry voice got his attention.

"Hey, that's m' seat."

Lincoln frowned and looked up to see a pale, white, muscular man looming over him, a pissed-off looked on his stubble-covered face. "Excuse me?" he asked. "This is a damn prison, there's no reserve seating."

The man frowned, clenching his fist as it turned black and formed into a sharp blade-like object. "To me there is. Now get the hell up." he hissed.

Lincoln jumped to his feet, holding his hands up. He didn't realize that the power inhibitors didn't work in the stands as well. "Now, hey, I'll move…" he said, backing up.

"Too late, you've already pissed me off." the guy growled, pressing the blade up against Lincoln's neck.

He gulped, unsure whether he wanted to fight back or not. The guards would probably kill him if they saw him doing anything like that. But then again, they weren't seeing this guy press a blade formed from his arm up against Lincoln's neck. So did it really matter?

"What the hell is going on here?"

Lincoln's stomach twisted as he saw Ward appear right behind the guy, a red light gleaming in his eyes. The man let him go and spun around, only to scamper back when he realized who he was.

"H-Hellfire?!" the man stammered. "W-What?!"

Ward glowered at the man, red eyes piercing into his. "What the hell are you doing?" he growled. "He's with me. Now let him go and run. No one cares if this is your 'spot'. We're all prisoners here, you don't have a say to where you sit in these damn fights."

The man's face twitched and hardened, and he pressed his blade-arm against Ward's stomach. "Some hothead who thinks he's all that can't tell me what to do. I don't care if you're the strongest here."

Lincoln's eyes widened as he watched Ward grab the man by the throat and  _lift him_ off of the benches and into the air like it was nothing. He frowned, Ward said nothing about being strong like that. Something didn't feel right about it.

Ward's eyes bore into the man's, "Tell me one reason why I should burn you to a crisp right now." he hissed.

The other prisoners were starting to take notice of what was happening, and even a few guards had taken notice. Three of there were making their way over to them, but it was clear that they really didn't care.

The man's eyes shrunk in fear, "Please, d-don't kill me." he pleaded. "I'll leave you guys alone. Please, just let me go."

A slight smile appeared on Ward's lips, and he threw he man several feet, crashing into the metal benches with a crash. Some of the prisoners, and the guards, rushed over to see the man as Ward pulled Lincoln aside, glaring at him.

"You can't play around here." he hissed, his red eyes shining down at Lincoln. "You'll get killed, especially in here. They can't activate the inhibitors in the stands, 'cause they'll interfere with the fighters. So anyone can attack you at any moment. But everyone knows not to do anything.

You don't want to know what happened the last time someone tried something." he continued. "Keep to yourself in here. If someone says move, move. I may not be right there to put you out of the crap I got you in."

"Then why are you doing this anyways?" Lincoln asked. "Trying to protect me?"

"I promised myself that I would keep you alive for the sake of SHIELD. If they come and find you dead and then find me, they'll blame me for everything. And there goes my chance at ever being free again, but that was probably blown when I got my powers." Ward explained. "You can't go around picking fights with other subjects."

"He started it."

"And you're not five-years-old." Ward shot back. "You're in a prison of highly-dangerous individuals. You could get killed at any moment. You don't know what will happen. You're like a child for God's sakes."

Lincoln narrowed his eyes and was about to say something back when an explosion rocked the building, sending them to their feet. They scrambled back up, seeing the prisoners run around like banshees, thinking that this was their opportunity.

"What the hell?" Lincoln asked, looking all around.

A muscle twitched in Ward's face and he grabbed Lincoln by the arm, "Stay by my side." he growled, pulling him along. "I don't know what the hell is going on, but you're not dying. I have a strong feeling that this is SHIELD."

* * *

(Elsewhere, Earlier.)

The team flew in a jet high above the Pacific Ocean, near where the supposed Biogen facility was at. They all looked at each other in anxiety as May flawlessly piloted the jet.

"So what are we looking for?" Hunter asked.

"Lincoln, and any gifteds willing to come with us." Coulson said. "We'll have to call in back-up later for any that want to come. But I'm doubting that many will want to."

Skye looked up from her laptop, "I managed to hack into their systems, this facility is the right place. I found where Lincoln's locked up. Cell no. 987. He's listed as 'Subject no. 835, alias pending.'." she explained. "I guess they give the subjects different names."

Her eyebrow raised as she continued to read, "And it says that he's locked up with an Inhuman named Hellfire. No actual name but that and 'Subject no. 453'. Like everything's been erased about that guy. But by the sounds of the name he's been given, he has something to do with fire." Skye continued.

Hunter's face fell, "Great, and there's telling how freaky the subjects get in there." he grumbled. "Welcome to the freakshow."

Bobbi sighed and rolled her eyes, "You realize that Skye's an Inhuman and could very well be in there as well, right?" she asked.

"Yeah, but it's Skye. She's not a freak."

"Oh, wow, thanks." Skye said, nodding slightly. "I can now say that I'm 'not a freak'."

Fitzsimmons both looked at each other, including Mack, but didn't say anything. And they heard May sigh from the cockpit.

Coulson took a breath, "Now, we don't know what we'll dealing with, so straighten up. This is a mission to find Lincoln and that only. And maybe possibly bring some others back. But the priority is Lincoln." he stated. He stood up and looked out the jet's front window, seeing a building on an island not too far ahead.

He smiled, "And it looks like we're here. Time to light the place up."

Hunter snorted, "'Light the place up'? What?" he laughed.

Coulson rolled his eyes, "You know what I mean. Let's get to business."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Keep the comments and kudos coming!


	6. Chapter Six (We're Worth Forsaking)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skye is reunited with Lincoln at long last, as well as another person she wished she would never see again.

(Just a Little Bit Later)

Ward pulled Lincoln out of the way of a group of stampeding subjects, running to find a way out in the chaos. Guards ran everywhere, trying to round up the escaping inmates, but they were failing so far.

Lincoln huffed as he was slammed into the wall, a scaly, nasty-looking subject barely missing him. He looked up to Ward, looking for an answer to what to do, "So, what's your big plan?" he asked, trying to avoid Ward's red-colored gaze.

From their close distance, Lincoln realized that Ward's irises weren't just red, they were literally colored with  _flame._ It was like an inferno was raging in them, mostly because there really was fire flowing through them. They really gave Ward the appearance of the Devil, which really unsettled Lincoln.

Ward took a sharp breath, cocking his head to listen for any enemies, whether that be Biogen guards, crazed subjects, or SHIELD trying to kill him. He looked back to Lincoln to respond, "I get you back to SHIELD and then I make a break for it. I'm not going on with you. Mostly because I can't. I don't really care about them anymore, and it's not like they're going to accept me back with open arms." he explained. "I'll find someone who won't kill me so easily.

It's most likely that the team in here consists of Coulson, May, Skye, Hunter, and Morse. I need to avoid Coulson and May most definitely, they'll kill me on sight. Hunter and Morse aren't too happy with me after our last, uh, meeting. So I need to avoid them too.

Our only option is Skye. She'll be taken aback by my appearance long enough for me to make a run for it once you're with her." Ward continued, frowning as he saw a Biogen guard running their way. "We find her, you go with her, and I'm out of here. Wait just a moment."

Ward stepped out into the middle of the hallway, right in the path of the oncoming guard. His eyes narrowed and he thrusted out his hands, sending a massive ball of flame towards the soldier. The soldier stopped quickly, spinning around to run away. But the ball of flame consumed him, melting armor and body alike with his screams echoing out.

Lincoln widened his eyes in horror at the sight and looked back to Ward, "You didn't have to do that!" he exclaimed.

Ward shrugged, turning back to him, "If I didn't, he would've killed us." he replied emotionlessly. "Come on, let's try to find Skye."

Lincoln shook his head, "No, wait a minute. I have powers over electricity, I could've short-circuited his suit and left him immobile, not kill him." he argued.

Raising an eyebrow, Ward held his breath, "Look, I don't really care who lives or dies anymore." he said lowly. "As long as it's not you or any of the team Coulson has here. Or me. Those guards deserve it. You don't want to know what they do to the prisoners. You've only been here a few days, so you're naïve in your thoughts about this place." he continued. He winced as an ear-splitting scream shot through the hallways, probably someone with a sonic voice or something. "You don't know what really goes on here."

Lincoln narrowed his eyes, "No, I don't. But I know that they're doing something to you. When you got back from wherever they took you after that fight yesterday, you weren't yourself. You were colder and harsher than you usually are. And then earlier you suddenly can lift a way over 200 pound man clear off the ground with just one hand. You never told me that you had super strength."

"I don't." Ward growled. "Look, I know that there's something wrong with me and I don't remember what the scientists did to me yesterday, but now's not the time to be discussing it." He grabbed Lincoln by the arm and started to drag him down the hallway, "I'll be glad when I can get rid of your ass and I can get out of here. You better have SHIELD to thank for my reason for keeping you alive."

Lincoln sent a spark of electricity into Ward's hand, causing him to hiss and glare at him, his fire eyes burning into him. "You're just completely selfish, then." he deadpanned. "You're just protecting me for your own sake."

Ward's face softened slightly and he slightly approached Lincoln, "Look, that's true in its own way." He lowered his voice, "I know how close you and Skye are. I thought protecting you would show Skye that I'm not the bad guy anymore, Lincoln. That I'm not out to get them. Then maybe they'll leave me alone and I can live my own life where I'm a fire-controlling freak.

I'm tired of being the villain in SHIELD's book, so I thought that this one act might help clear it up. But if you get yourself killed or I snap and hurt one of the team or you, that hope will be shattered." His voice was low and laced with grief. "I know that I'm not capable of being a hero, I will never be. But just let me have this one chance. I'll reunite you with Skye and then I'll be on my way, we don't have to deal with each other anymore." The fire in his eyes started to die down. "Just let me have this chance."

Lincoln blinked, feeling sorry for the guy. How could this be the psychopath they had fought several months ago? He was broken, just wanting to prove that he could do at least one, good thing before going off to be by himself. Lincoln took a breath before responding, "Fine. Just get me the hell out of here."

The ground shook beneath them, causing them to almost lose their footing. Ward looked at Lincoln with confusion, wondering if her was thinking what he was thinking.

"And it seems like Skye is nearby." Lincoln said quickly. "And by the feelings of that tremor, she's really close. Get me there and you can go. You don't even have to say hi."

Ward slightly smiled, "G-Good." he stammered, slightly frightened at the prospect of running into Skye again. But, in reality, he actually wanted to see her one, last time before taking off.

Lincoln took off, running down the hallway, Ward following him. "Skye!" he screamed. "I'm here! I'm here!"

* * *

(Elsewhere)

Skye froze as Lincoln's screams echoed into her hallway just as a Biogen guard fell to the ground after receiving a hit from a shockwave. "Lincoln?!" she called out. "Lincoln?!"

Her eyes scanned around the massive hallway that was littered with debris from her attacks. She had separated from the others, figuring that she would be better alone. But she didn't see any sights of Lincoln. Her chest tightened, "Lincoln!" she yelled again.

"Skye!"

Skye turned around to see Lincoln, beaten and bruised climbing over debris. He ran over to her, a big smile on his face. Skye dropped her ICER and wrapped her arms around him.

"You're okay!" she exclaimed.

Lincoln scoffed, "More or less. This place is a hell." he replied.

Skye smiled, letting go of him and bending down to pick up her ICER. "What did they want with you in here? What do they do in here?" she asked.

Lincoln stiffened up, remembering his own experience and whatever the hell was being done to Ward. "Uh, let's not talk about that right now."

Skye's face dropped, "Oh, yeah, we need to get out of here." she said. "I've got to contact Coulson. Oh, and you made it here by yourself from wherever they were keeping you? There's some characters in here, and the guards even worse."

Lincoln's face paled, "I, uh, had some help." he responded, trying not to mention Ward to keep him a secret. But that wouldn't be a secret long.

Skye raised an eyebrow, reaching for her comms, "Oh, really, you? You had help? Well, I'm glad that you're not dead." she joked. "I've got to," Skye stopped as the voice of a ghost cut through the hallway, over the sounds of nearby battles.

"You know, Skye, you should really be thanking me. I'm the reason why Lincoln here is alive."

"Dammit." Lincoln muttered. "What happened to you wanting to dash?"

"What?" Skye asked fearfully, turning around along with Lincoln to see  _Ward_ of all people walking over debris towards them, hands shoved into pockets of some kind of black athletic pants, the same kind that Lincoln had on.

Skye's face quickly turned to disgust, "What the hell are you doing here?" she spat, ready to attack him. "I should've known that you were behind this."

Ward's face fell as he stopped a few feet in front of her and Lincoln, "What makes you think that I'm behind this, Skye?" he asked, disappointed. "When am I capable of being in charge of a pharmaceutical company's secret scheme?"

"I don't know, but it seems like something you would do." Skye spat back.

She looked at his scarred and dirtied skin. And then his handsome face. She still refused to admit that she still found him attractive, and  _God_ he was muscular. His now-spiky hair was tussled and some of it stuck to his forehead from sweat. A decent beard covered half of his face. He was pretty damn hot for a guy she was supposed to loathe.

"And what makes you think that I'm not a  _prisoner_ here, Skye?" Ward continued, slowly approaching her. "Like everybody else locked-up in this damn hellhole?"

Skye's stomach quickly turned to slush, "That's impossible." she retorted. "This place is an experimental facility for Inhumans and gifteds, not crazy psychopaths."

Ward narrowed his eyes, the fire quickly filling his irises and causing them to shine with that red, supernatural light. "You were saying?" he asked, noting Skye's terrified expression.

Lincoln's stomach felt as though there was a rock in it. Ward had told him that he was leaving right after he led him to Skye, so he assumed that he would see no more of the fire-wielder. But what made him confront Skye like this? Something was off.

"N-No." she stammered, backing up. "Y-You can't be…"

Ward smiled slightly, although it was slightly pained, "Things change in seven months, Skye. There's a reason why I stopped pursuing you and the others in addition to being in here for three months." he said softly.

"Y-You're not…" Skye stammered again.

Ward danced on the balls of his feet, hearing shouting in the distance. Biogen guards must've confronted a group of escapees. He looked back to Skye, slightly glancing at Lincoln, "But still, you should be thanking me. I'm the reason why Lincoln here is alive." he repeated once more.

Skye swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat, "W-What happened to you?" she stammered.

Ward blinked, looking down to his dirt-covered boots, "People change, Skye. Many in ways that they never had thought of." He looked up to the cracked ceiling, smiling as he thought about something he had said to her in the past. Something that didn't really make sense to him when he had said it.

He looked back down to her, the fiery light shining from his eyes, "We're not so different, you and I."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Keep the comments and kudos coming!


	7. Chapter Seven (The Ashes of Eden)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fitzsimmons and Mack find out who 'Hellfire' really is and Ward has a heart-to-heart with Skye.

(Elsewhere)

Fitz frowned, reading over the prisoner lists of the Biogen facility. He had managed to hack into them, to see just what Coulson and the others would possibly be dealing with. He looked over to Simmons and Mack and motioned them to look at the tablet screen, "There's some seriously weird characters in here." he said. "Both Inhuman and just gifted. Powers ranging to shapeshifting to weather control to, hell, telekinesis."

Mack raised an eyebrow, "And it probably gets weirder than that." he commented, looking over the list.

"There has to be at least 100 people on this list." Fitz said. He scrolled down until he found Lincoln, "And here's Lincoln's, well, profile per se." His face scrunched up as he read it, "Says here that he was in containment with another Inhuman by the name of 'Hellfire'."

Simmons frowned, "Hellfire?" she asked "That's a demonic sounding name. Does it say who it is?"

Fitz clicked a few things and then shook his head, "No, just 'Hellfire'. A pyrokinetic Inhuman with a highly abnormal healing ability. It says that they've been doing other things to him, but that's redacted. Even his name is redacted."

"Can you at least get his name?" Mack asked. "If they're keeping his name a secret, then it has to be a big deal."

Fitz shrugged, "I can try, but I don't know what kind of encryption I'm dealing with here. And Skye's our resident hacker."

"You got those files, didn't you?" Simmons questioned.

"Uh, yes?"

"Then you can find out the guy's name."

Fitz took a breath and nodded, and started doing things on the tablet that Simmons didn't understand. After a while, Fitz's face fell and turned stark-white.

"What's wrong?" Mack asked. "Did you find out who it is?"

"T-They need to get out of there." Fitz stammered. "T-They're in danger."

"What? Why?"

Fitz turned around the tablet so Mack and Simmons could see it, "I-I don't know how, but the Inhuman… It's Ward."

Both Mack and Simmons' faces fell as they looked at Fitz's tablet screen. The engineer was right, to their horror. Next to the persona of 'Hellfire' was a grainy picture of Ward and his name typed out underneath it.

And Simmons spoke for all of them, " _What the hell_?"

* * *

(Elsewhere)

Skye's face had grown as pale as a sheet as she stepped back from Ward, "I-I don't understand what you are saying." she stammered.

Ward cocked his head, "It's really self-explanatory, Skye." he said softly. "You and I aren't that different anymore. Hell, you're not that different than a good bit of the subjects here." His gaze drifted over to Lincoln and then back to Skye, "I'm, uh, even not that different than Lincoln."

Skye's stomach slowly turned to lead as she fully realized what Ward was saying, "No… You can't be. What kind of sick joke is this?!" she exclaimed.

Ward narrowed his blazing eyes, "Skye, why would I be joking about this?" he asked, no anger in his voice.

"You're Inhuman."

"As I'll ever be." Ward replied, looking at the floor.

"How?"

Ward looked to the ceiling taking a breath before looking back to Skye, "Honestly, I don't know. I don't remember." he said. "All I remember was these people who attacked me, there was a stone and some gas, then fire. That's all. And then I ended up like this." he stated, motioning to himself.

"Like what?" Skye asked, a muscle twitching in her face. "What exactly can you do?"

"Do we have to go over this now?" Ward sighed. "We're running out of time, so I can't exactly show you now."

"Running out of time for  _what_ , Ward?" Skye hissed. "To kill us?"

Ward gulped, his face falling, "Skye, that… That isn't me anymore." he said. "I stopped that right after I got my powers."

"Like hell you did." Skye spat. "Give me one reason to why I shouldn't kill you right now."

Ward ran a hand through his dirty hair, "Skye, look, I have no intentions of killing any of you guys anymore. There's a reason to why I kept Lincoln safe these past few days. It's so I can prove to you that there is still some good left in me, that I can still do something." The fire started to die from his eyes, "I'm not that villain anymore, Skye. He died in the fire that  _created_ me. I'm a totally different person.

Yes, I have several issues that I need to work through. And I'm trying. And I thought that this," He motioned to Lincoln. "would be a good start at least. But I know that it won't do anything." He sighed and looked Skye firmly in the eyes, "Do you want to know what I was doing when Biogen captured me?" he asked.

Skye gulped, actually kind of believing what the man was saying, "What?" she croaked out, realizing that she had let her ICER fall to the ground long ago.

"I was alone, in an apartment I was staying at after I got my powers. I was trying to make a new life for myself, one where I would stay to myself." A pained looked filled his half-fiery eyes, "I just want to be left alone, Skye. But Biogen wouldn't let me have that. I've been three months, being tortured and you don't even want to know. I've had to kill for Biogen's 'experiments'. You don't want to know what they've had me do." Ward's face was full of painful regret. "I don't want to hurt anymore, Skye. I intended after leading Lincoln to leave, to avoid you. But… I couldn't stay away from you. I just wanted to say hi, and bye."

Skye didn't know whether to feel remorse for Ward or still be furious with him, "Does Coulson know that you're here?" she asked.

Ward shook his head, "I sure as hell hope not." he stated. "I would be dead by now. I chose to bring Lincoln to you because I knew you wouldn't kill me right away, but the others would." Ward shook his head and looked to the ground, and Skye could've sworn that he was crying.

"Skye, I'm not going to hurt you anymore. Not even Coulson. Not May. Not Fitzsimmons. None of you guys. I just wanted to have a chance to say that I'm sorry. And I mean it. I just hate that it had to be this way. Look, the guy you knew is dead. He's been that way for a few months now with no intentions of coming back. I'm sorry…"

Skye looked over to Lincoln, who just shrugged and kept his mouth shut. She looked back to Ward, "Look I don't know what to say to you right now, 'cause I don't know how I feel towards you. But… Thank you for protecting Lincoln."

"I could've saved myself." Lincoln shot out.

Ward shot him a glare, "No, you couldn't. You almost got yourself killed this morning because of an argument."

Lincoln shrugged again.

Ward sighed and looked back to Skye, "I did it to show you that there maybe is some good left in me, despite what you all think." he said solemnly. He turned around to leave, "I'll leave you guys alone now. And I won't bother you again. I'm sorry…"

He started to walk off, but he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around to see Skye looking up at him.

"Wait, Ward." she said softly. "You don't have to go just yet." For some reason, she didn't know why, she was starting to feel differently towards him. Skye realized that Ward was right, the villain  _was_ dead, replaced by a broken Inhuman that was just trying to start again.

Ward almost snorted, "Yeah, right. I'll just wait here until Biogen guards come to get me or Coulson puts a bullet in my head." he said lowly. "I did what I promised to do. I kept Lincoln safe and I brought him back to you. Now it's my time to leave, to disappear for good. I just want to be alone, Skye. Can't you understand that? I did what I was supposed to do."

Skye, without hesitation, wrapped her arms around Ward, "Thank you." she mumbled. "For protecting Lincoln."

Ward was taken aback by Skye's sudden action, and so was Lincoln, who stood off to the side with his eyes wide.

"W-What are you doing?" Ward stammered, slightly blushing.

Skye backed away from him, noticing that his skin was really heating up for some reason. She looked down to her feet, "Just thanking you before you go." she said softly. "Didn't know what else to do."

Ward took a slight breath, "Skye," he began. "I'm not the psychopathic villain out to get you anymore. Again, he's dead. I'll leave you guys alone, and you don't even have to see me ever again."

Skye nodded slightly, "I guess that this is bye for good then." she stated.

Ward nodded as well, "It's good when there's no one trying to kill me." he said with a slight smile. "Take care Skye." He nodded towards Lincoln, "Lincoln."

He turned around once more and started to walk away, but that's when he heard the shouts. The shouts of oncoming Biogen guards from behind him. He stopped dead in his tracks, spinning around to see the black-clad guards running towards with, armed with massive guns.

His eyes widened and he ran forward, pushing Skye and Lincoln behind him.

"Grant! What the hell are you doing?!" Skye exclaimed.

"Don't do this!" Lincoln added in.

Ward took a breath, despite the fact that Skye calling him 'Grant' made him happy. He looked back to them as he stood between them and the guards, "Still keeping my promise. Protecting you. One last time." He looked back to the guards, clenching his fists as the flames consumed his eyes.

"Get Hellfire!" one of the guards ordered.

Skye's face fell, " _Hellfire_?" she asked, realizing that Ward had been Lincoln's cell mate.

She watched in both horror and in awe as Ward flexed his arms and  _fire_ of all things blazed up his bare skin. She stepped back a bit, grabbing Lincoln's arm and pulling him back as well.

Ward slowly approached the guards, who had started to point their guns at him. He quickly looked back at Skye and Lincoln, a slight smile on his face as his eyes blaze with the red flames. "I promise you, Skye, I'm keeping my promise I made you long ago." He turned back to the guards, "I'm not going to hurt you, I'm going to  _protect you._ "

And with that, Ward lunged towards the battle-ready guards, the flames of hell burning bright.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Keep the comments and kudos coming!


	8. Chapter Eight (And It Hurts Again)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Basically, everything goes to hell and Ward's there to fix it.

Coulson stopped in the middle of the hallway as Fitz's voice crackled through his comms.

_"_ _Uh, sir? I think you guys need to get out of there, now."_

Coulson frowned and looked over to May, who had stopped as well, wondering why he had stopped so suddenly. "Fitz, what? Why do we need to do that?" he asked. "We need to find Lincoln. And I can't find Skye anywhere either."

_"_ _We found out the identity of the Inhuman that was locked in the same cell as Lincoln. The guy that had everything about him erased. Well, it was all redacted and I was able to get into it."_

The Director grew worried at Fitz's frantic tone, "Fitz," he began in a slow and careful tone. "Who is it?"

_"_ _Ward. The Inhuman is Ward."_

Coulson's stomach felt as though it had completely frozen over. His face grew stark-white. " _Ward_?" he asked. "How the hell is the Inhuman Ward?"

May heard this and her face fell as well. She turned towards the Director, "Phil?" she asked. "What the hell is going on?"

He shot her a look and continued talking to Fitz. "Are you sure, Leo?" he asked. "Is that what it said?"

_"_ _Unfortunately, yes. Pryokinesis. Highly abnormal healing ability. And it seems like Biogen is doing something to him, but I couldn't pull that up. I don't know how any of this is possible, but you need to get Lincoln and get the hell out of there."_

Fitz quickly disconnected from the comms.

"Phil, what the hell was that?" May asked, looking for an answer.

Coulson turned towards May, about to feel sick. "The Inhuman that was locked up with Lincoln, the one that had no info on him. Hellfire, that was his name. Well, apparently Fitz and the others found out that it's Ward by some God-forsaken reason. Pyrokinesis. Some kind of healing ability. And Biogen's doing something else to him." he explained. "May, we need to get out of here now. Find Lincoln and go. There's no telling if Ward's still a psychopath. Hell, there's no telling if Lincoln's still alive."

"We need to tell the others." May said.

Coulson's face fell, "Skye. Skye's out there by herself with a super-powered Ward running around. There's no telling what he'll do to her."

May narrowed her eyes, "I'll send an entire clip of bullets into his brain if he even tries anything."

With a nod, Coulson started to dash down the hallway, May following him. "I don't know how this is possible, but I'm not letting everything go to hell today."

* * *

(Elsewhere)

Skye watched in horror and awe as Ward lunged towards the Biogen guards, fire flying behind him. Ward slammed into one, pinning down the man's arms at his side. Skye pulled Lincoln back as flames consumed Ward, protecting him from the hail of bullets and causing the man's armor to melt.

The two Inhumans winced as screams of agony echoed out of the man's armor. But that didn't stop Ward, he lunged to another guard to attack him. Lincoln heard something from behind him and Skye and he turned to see four guards coming up on them.

"Uh, Skye, we've got a big problem!" Lincoln explained, spinning Skye around to see their problem.

Her eyes widened, her mind momentarily forgetting the mess that was happening behind them. "Dammit!" she spat. "Lincoln, we've got to fight."

"I know that!" he screamed, jumping to the side as one of the guards started firing. "Do something about those freaking guns, Skye!"

"Oh, yeah!" Skye yelled, sending a blast at the guards' guns. They immediately began to fall apart and fell to the ground, causing the guards to become extremely confused. But they regained their ground and decided to go hand-to-hand.

Meanwhile, Ward fought the last two guards. He had already killed the other three, and that didn't even bother him. They were guards intent on killing him or dragging him back to the experiment lab. Something he did not plan on doing.

He grabbed the hand of the guard closest to him, sending a blast of white-hot flame up the metal arm of the suit. And he didn't let go until the arm was a twisted mass of molten metal, a human arm somewhere in there. The guard screamed and fell to the ground, Ward didn't bother doing anymore to him.

He turned to face the last guard, but found that he had fled. This caused him to smile slightly. Good, they should be afraid of him. He wasn't called Hellfire for nothing. Ward thought that they were done until two gunshots was heard and a scream, followed by a ground-shaking rumble. Skye's scream.

Ward completely froze up and turned around, seeing Skye fall to the ground as Lincoln sent a bolt of electricity into a guard that was attacking them A guard stood over her, a small handgun drawn.

His face contorted into a snarl and the flames engulfed him once more. And he stormed towards the guards that remained, which was about two, spun and ran off in fear. The flames quickly died off of him and Ward dropped to Skye's side.

He looked up to Lincoln, "Stop standing there!" he barked. "Help me sit her up against that wall!"

Lincoln looked around the hallway, "This isn't a good place to do anything!" he exclaimed. "We'll just get killed." He pointed to a storage closet, "Take her in there, we'll be safe there!"

Ward nodded stiffly and he and Lincoln carefully picked up the bleeding Skye, carrying her into the closet. They set her up against the wall and Lincoln went and shut the door, moving a shelf in front of it so no one could get in.

He rejoined Ward and looked over Skye. "Where is she hurt?" he asked, concern and worry lacing his voice.

Ward surveyed Skye's body, seeing that majority of the blood was coming from her left shoulder. A hole in her gear noted that was where she had been shot. "Shoulder. Clean through. A lot of blood, but it's not life-threatening. But there's the risk of bleeding out. The blood flow has to be stopped." He looked up to Lincoln, "What the hell happened?" he asked.

"When you took on the guards, four more came out of nowhere." Lincoln started.  
"Skye disabled their guns and we took them on hand-to-hand. But one had a handgun on him and fired."

"Well, the other two cowards ran off." Ward growled, ripping a hole in the fabric on Skye's shoulder so he could see the wound, which was bleeding heavily. His eyes narrowed, and he looked around the room. To their dismay, there was no medical supplies in the room, only cleaning supplies. "Damn. I can't deal with this with nothing. And we can't go back out there."

"But she'll bleed out, just like you said!" Lincoln exclaimed, the smell of the blood starting to make him feel sick.

Skye's eyes fluttered open and they met Ward's, "Ward?" she croaked out. "What? What's happening?"

"Don't talk." Ward said softly. "You were shot in the shoulder twice and there's a lot of blood, and it's still coming." His caring eyes that had returned to their whiskey-brown long ago looked into Skye's. He slightly smiled and she smiled back to his disbelief.

Ward shook his head and looked around the room again before coming back to the heavily-bleeding gunshot wound. He took a breath before saying anymore, "I'm going to have to cauterize it." he said lowly. "It's the only thing that will stop the bleeding in here."

"You're going to burn her?!" Lincoln exclaimed, anger on his face.

Skye's eyes widened in fear and in pain at Ward's declaration, but she was in too much pain to respond.

Ward suppressed his building rage and looked Lincoln firmly in the eyes, "A burn's better than bleeding out and dying. You better be glad that the guard didn't fire into her heart. She's still here and there is a chance.

A shoulder wound normally isn't that bad. It hurts like hell and it might disrupt your arm movements, but you won't die. But she was shot  _twice_ and there's a hell of a lot of blood, and it's still coming. A shoulder wound won't kill you, but blood loss will." Pain filled Ward's eyes, "I should know that. I almost bled out and died over a year ago. Four shots to the side…" he trailed off as he saw the pain and regret building up in Skye's eyes.

Lincoln knew that it had been Skye who had shot him, that's why there was so much tension between the two right now. "Look, I'm not a doctor." he said, throwing his hands up. "Do what you have to do."

Ward took a breath and looked back to Skye, taking her hand, "Skye, this is gonna hurt like hell." he said. "But it's a hell of a lot better than you bleeding out and dying. I'll control the flame where it won't burn you up. Yes, it'll leave a scar, but you won't be dead. Is that okay with you?" he asked. "I won't do it if you don't want me to."

He saw Skye hold her breath before weakly nodding her head in response. "Do it." she croaked out. "I-I'll be fine. Better than death, right?" She managed a slight smile.

Ward smiled back and squeezed her hand, "Yes, better than death." he replied. He held his breath and placed his hand on Skye's wounded shoulder, causing her to wince. "Sorry. It's okay to scream." he continued. "Just don't cause a massive earthquake or anything."

Skye smiled weakly, "I'll try not to."

"Are you ready?"

She nodded and gritted her teeth, prepared for the hellfire. And she could've started to become delirious from the pain and blood loss, but Ward looked beyond hot. But why was he so caring? Why was he saving her life? What had really changed in him? Did the villain he once was really die in the fire that man that crouched in front of her?

"Hang on. It'll be okay." Ward said softly, taking her other hand with his free hand and squeezing it. He sent a blast of fire into Skye's wounded shoulder.

Skye screamed out as the burning agony shot through her shoulder, and the ground rumbled beneath her. But she felt Ward squeeze her hand even tighter and it slightly calmed her. And it was over as fast as it came.

Ward looked at her shoulder, which was now an angry, burning red. But it had stopped bleeding. The only blood left was the now-drying blood that stained her.

Skye refused to look at it, "D-Did it work?" she stammered, gritting her teeth from the burning pain. It felt worse than putting her hand on a hot stove, and she had done that before.

Ward nodded and slowly came to his feet, "Yes, it did. There's gonna be a nasty burn there for a while, but I imagine Simmons probably has something for that. But it's way better than bleeding out and dying."

Skye smiled slightly, "Thank you." she said softly.

Ward smiled again, "It wasn't a problem, especially all the death I just caused." He looked to the side shamefully before looking up to Lincoln, "We've got to get her out of here and back to Coulson I guess."

"What about you?" Lincoln asked in response. "I thought you wanted to stay far away from the others."

"I'll deal with that when it comes." Ward replied, helping Skye to her feet. He looked Skye firmly in the eyes, "Skye, right now might be goodbye. I might have to dash once we get you to Coulson. You know, I don't want a bullet in the head."

Skye felt sad for him but nodded weakly, "O-Okay." she stammered. Then she wrapped her arms around Ward the best she could with her now-burnt shoulder, "Thank you for saving me." she mumbled. God, he was warm.

Ward started to blush again, "Again, it wasn't a problem." he replied. He looked to Lincoln, "Come on. Let's get her out of here before Biogen shows back up."

Lincoln nodded and quickly took Skye's right side as Ward tenderly took her left side. They managed to move the shelf and get Skye out of the room and into the hallway.

Now the only challenge was getting her back to Coulson and the others without getting shot and killed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Keep the comments and kudos coming!


	9. Chapter Nine (Don't Leave Me Here)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ward leaves Skye and Lincoln only to run into someone else...

Ward and Lincoln walked Skye to Coulson until they could hear his voice, and Ward stopped. They were just around the corner from him, and Ward didn't want to take any chances whatsoever.

He looked to Skye, his caring eyes resting on hers, "I'm sorry, Skye, but this is where we part. I'll get a bullet in my head if I go on any further than right here." he explained softly. "I know Coulson will get you the care that you need, but he'll only kill me. And besides, I'd rather be on my own for a while if at all possible."

Skye took a breath, knowing that it was the best thing for Ward right now. She nodded slightly, "Okay." she replied. "So I guess this is really goodbye."

Ward smiled slightly, "As long as no other guards try to attack us, then yes. This is goodbye." he stated. He looked to Lincoln, "Make sure she gets to safety. And don't get in anymore fights." he added in with a slight smirk.

Lincoln rolled his eyes, "Goodbye to you too." he muttered.

Skye suppressed a slight laugh before looking back to the fiery Inhuman, "Thank you." she muttered. "For everything today."

Ward nodded, "Again, wasn't a problem." He looked between the two and sighed, "I don't think that we'll ever see each other again." he continued. "I want to lay low as long as possible. So this might be a final goodbye."

Silence fell between the three. Skye was now aware of her changing feelings towards the Inhuman. He was being so kind and nice, obviously covering up the fact that he was in pain and there was something wrong. And it was obvious that some form of friendship or something had started between Lincoln and Ward, but neither of them would ever admit it.

Ward swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat, "Sorry." he muttered, before turning around and walking off, most likely never to be seen again.

And that left Skye and Lincoln standing there, Skye still being supported by Lincoln. Neither of them knew what to say, so there was more silence for a while before Lincoln spoke up.

"Come on, let's get you back to Coulson." he said, beginning to walk and lead Skye to where they had heard Coulson's voice. "That's what Ward wanted anyways. He'll be fine, I've seen him fight. He'll be fine."

Skye nodded slowly, knowing that Lincoln was right. Ward would be fine. He had survived this long, and adding in the fact that he was Inhuman only made his chances at survival higher.

They walked until they saw Coulson standing there, seeming like he was talking on comms to someone.

"I don't care what you have to do to him." he barked. "Just drag him back here to my feet once you deal with him!"

Skye and Lincoln exchanged nervous glances with one another before Skye spoke up. "Coulson!" she yelled, jerking the Director's attention to them.

His face lit up and he ran over to them, "Skye! Lincoln!" he exclaimed. "You two are okay!"

"More or less." Lincoln muttered.

Coulson's eyes looked over the two Inhumans, his eyes resting on the wicked burn on Skye's shoulder. His face grew worried, "Skye, what the hell happened to your shoulder?" he asked quietly.

Skye's face fell ad she started to explain, "Well, I was shot two times in the shoulder… And we had help with it to stop the bleeding…"

Coulson blinked, narrowing his eyes, "That's a burn, Skye." he said coldly. "Where did you get this 'help'?"

"Uh, I don't know." Skye said, feigning confusion. "I didn't know his name. He just offered to help and ran."

"We're also on a manhunt here, Skye." Coulson continued. "Found out that someone we've been hunting for six months now is now an Inhuman subject here." His eyes narrowed, surveying the burn again, "Did this help's name happen to be Grant Ward?" he asked.

The color drained from both Skye and Lincoln's faces. They looked at each other but didn't respond to Coulson.

"I'll take that as a yes." Coulson stated coldly. Anger started to shine in his eyes, "You ran into Ward and you didn't try to stop him?!"

"He saved Skye's life!" Lincoln exclaimed. "And he's actually the reason why I'm still alive!"

Coulson's eyes narrowed again, "Are you forgetting what he has done? Lincoln, I know you weren't with us during the time of the Hydra Uprising, but you fought with us when Ward went berserk and tried to slaughter us. You know that he's insane. He's the damn villain, Lincoln. So don't try to vouch for him."

Skye gulped and now chose the time to speak up. "Sir, Ward did save my life. I was bleeding out from the two gunshot wounds and he chose to burn it to stop the bleeding. Whoever that was, sir, that wasn't the Ward we fought six months ago. That was a totally different man."

Coulson's lips curled, "I'll like to see that for myself." he growled. "As far as I know, Ward's a psychopath. And the order's out for his death."

* * *

(Elsewhere)

Ward ran through the hallways, trying to find his way out of the Biogen facility after leaving Skye and Lincoln. He had avoided guards and SHIELD alike so far, but it wouldn't stay that way for long. He eventually had ran into a dead end, nowhere else to go.

And he was about to turn around when he heard a handgun click. "Get to the ground, Ward." a voice hissed out coldly.

Ward froze, he would know this voice anywhere. May. May had followed him and had cornered him. He didn't move and didn't say a word.

"I said, get on the ground." May growled. "Or I'll empty this clip into your head and leave you to die."

A smirk pulled at Ward's lips and he couldn't help but talk back. "Do you really think that that's such a good idea?" he asked, not turning around. "Do you, May? I don't think that emptying a clip into my head is going to end well for you." Ward's mind trailed to the time when he lost control and went berserk after a guard had left him for dead. The flames tried to fight back for their host, controlling him as they tried to heal him. "I'll still live from that, I'm sure."

He had lied to Skye and Lincoln. He would survive a bullet to the head. He was hard to kill because of his powers, but he didn't tell them that.

May's face paled, but she still held her ground, "I said get on the damn ground!" she barked.

Ward turned around to look at her, the flames quickly filling his irises once more. But his face stayed calm as fear overcame May's. "I'm not getting on the ground, May. I was just trying to find my way out of here after three months of being a prisoner." he said calmly. "I just want to be left alone, that's all."

May's face hardened and fury shown in her eyes, "Coulson put out an order for your death once he found out what you were." she spat. "You're not leaving here alive."

Ward raised an eyebrow, "Didn't I just say that a clip of bullets in my head wouldn't stop me?" he asked. "You don't understand what I'm capable of now, May." He sighed deeply and shoved his hands into his pockets, "I have no intentions of hurting you guys anymore. I'm past that. There's no villain in me anymore, he's gone. He died in the fire that created the Inhuman you see standing right in front of you.

There's no malice in me for you guys. I'd rather leave you guys alone and go off on my own. I'm not on a 'vengeance spree' or whatever anymore." he continued.

"Yeah, right." May hissed, continuing to point her gun at Ward's head.

Ward narrowed his eyes and his hand shot out of his pocket, grabbing the gun from May's hand. He looked at it and turned it around in his hand. He looked up to her, "Again, this isn't going to work against me." he repeated before crushing the weapon in his hand and incinerating it in a blast of flame.

May's eyes widened. How did Ward manage to crush a gun in his bare hand? No one said that he had super strength or anything. What was going on? "See? You're still the villain." she spat.

Ward shook his head, "You're blind, May. You're set in your thinking about me. I'm not the bad guy anymore. I'm just a guy who wants to be left alone to start a new life, one without SHIELD on my ass. One where I'm not being _experimented_ on by Biogen. I just want to be by myself. Can't you understand that?"

"What's going on here?"

Ward frowned, seeing Hunter and Bobbi coming into view. They stopped and froze right behind May, pointing their guns at Ward.

"Again with the guns?" Ward asked. "That's not going to work!"

May looked back to them and shook her head, "He took my gun and crushed it in his bare hand, and lit it ablaze. It's not going to work."

Ward scratched at his beard absently and the three glared at him. "Do I have to explain everything all over to these two idiots?" he asked. "'Cause I don't feel like doing so. Just go and tell Coulson that you couldn't find me and leave me the hell alone."

"We're not letting a super-powered psychopath go!" Bobbi exclaimed.

A muscle twitched in Ward's face and he was doing all he could do to keep his building rage down. "I'm not a psychopath." he stated calmly. "I'm not the bad guy anymore, Skye and Lincoln can vouch for that."

May's face fell, "What?" she asked harshly.

"Skye and Lincoln should be back to Coulson by now because of my help. Skye would've bled out from two gunshot wounds in her shoulder earlier if it wasn't for me. I cauterized the wound so she and Lincoln could get back. And I'm the reason why Lincoln's still alive. I kept him safe these past few days. Are those enough reasons to why I'm not a bad guy?" he asked. "I helped and now I want to be left alone."

Hunter almost snorted, "Sure you do."

Ward shot him a glare that would give him nightmares. "Shut it." he growled, clear that his rage was building to a point where it would break. And when the dam broke, all hell would break loose.

Hunter grew as white as a sheet and shut his mouth.

"We're not letting you go anywhere and that's final." May growled.

Ward took a breath and ran his hands through his hair, holding back the flames, "Look, I'll make a deal here." he stated harshly. "I'll go with you to Coulson. I'll talk to him. At least Skye and Lincoln will be there to vouch for me. And then I can get back to my life. Is that okay? I'm not going to kill you. I'll keep my hands to myself." He gave them a slight, yet devious smile.

May looked back to Hunter and Bobbi, who didn't say a single word in response. "Keep your guns trained at him at all times and fire when you feel like it's necessary." she ordered. She looked back to Ward with a heated glare. "Fine. But if you try anything…"

"I know, I'll get bullets in my head. Again, it won't work. It'll only make things worse for you. And I can't control it." Ward repeated, irritated beyond belief. "Keep your bullets to yourself."

That sent fear shooting through the three agents.

May started to walk, "Come on." she spat. Ward followed her, Hunter and Bobbi behind him to keep their useless guns on him.

"Whatever you say." Ward muttered. But fear gripped his stomach, not towards SHIELD but toward Biogen.

If they caught him again, there was no telling what they would do to him. They had already started messing with his biological makeup. And he had developed super strength from it, and there was no telling to what else was to come.

And there was no telling to what hell would be unleashed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Keep the comments and kudos coming!


	10. Chapter Ten (Already Over)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ward explains things and then leaves 'for good'. End of part one!

Ward approached Coulson, still surrounded by May, Hunter, and Bobbi, with the fire glaring from his eyes and a slight smirk on his face. His eyes looked over to Skye and Lincoln, fear clearly showing in their faces. He looked back to Coulson and stopped just as May went to the Director's side, "You just can't leave me be, can you?" he asked.

Coulson narrowed his eyes, "You're still a wanted criminal in my book,  _Ward_." he hissed. "I ordered your death, why aren't you dead?"

Ward snorted, "I'm not that easy to kill, Coulson. May here wanted to empty a clip into my brain, but that wasn't going to work." He shook his head, "I'm hard to kill, but that's a story for another time.

But I was trying to run away, but you're trying to act so high and mighty by finally taking me down." he continued. Ward narrowed his eyes, making them appear as red slits, "You just can't leave me alone."

"'Cause you're a villainous psychopath!" Coulson snapped. "And now that you're Inhuman, yes we know about that, that makes it even worse. You're a threat to humanity!"

Ward laughed, "A threat to humanity?!" he screeched in laughter. "Is it because I'm the 'villainous psychopath' or is it because I'm Inhuman? Wake up, Coulson. Majority of the people here are Inhuman, so are Skye and Lincoln. Does that make them threats to humanity? Does it? You're really a hypocrite."

Coulson's face curled in disgust, "So are you." he spat. "Why were you running anyways?"

"That's none of your business. But I do have one thing to say to you, I'm not the bad guy you think I am. You're so set in your ways, you're so blind in your thinking about me, that you do not see the truth that's standing right in front of you." Ward said through clenched teeth. He felt the anger rising again, and he knew that it would be hell when it broke.

Coulson narrowed his eyes, looking at his team except Skye and Lincoln. He looked back to Ward, "Then what's the truth?" he asked. "What am I so blind to?"

"That I've changed." Ward replied, sticking his hands in his pockets. "I told you, I'm not the bad guy anymore. I've said this two times already, and only one time went the way that I hoped. The villain that you were chasing was killed in the fire that created the Inhuman standing right in front of you. It's bad when a life-changing event like that is what finally snaps you out of it. And yes, I am admitting that I was the villain."

Coulson's face fell, but he didn't say anything in response.

"Yes, I was a stupid asshole that was so blind with grief that I didn't know what the hell I was doing. You see, I am a caring person, and that doesn't make me a psychopath. But I care way too much. I devote myself to the person to the point where I'm willing to do anything. Garrett. Kara. It's all the same.

Garrett pulled me out of a hell, but I was so blind with devotion that I failed to see what he was dragging me into. And then with Kara. I just wanted to save someone, prove that I was still good. But that all landed on Kara. I cared too much, devoted too much to her. Again, I was willing to do anything. Even if that meant torturing one of SHIELD's own." He glanced in Bobbi's direction, and she was seething.

"And when Kara died, I just snapped. 'Cause I cared too much. And the entire time I was too focused on trying to be the good guy, something that was shot down time and time again by you." Ward hissed. "Kara was my last hope, even if it was deranged. And when she died, all that hope snapped. I placed the blame on you and went insane with revenge for closure that didn't really exist."

Ward took a breath, regret and grief filling his eyes, "Look, I'm sorry. But I know that that will never be enough for you. I regret it all. But now, I just want to be left alone where I can be the freak I am all alone. I'll stay out of your hair if you just let me go. I tried being alone after these powers came, but it didn't work out so well."

Coulson gulped, taking in Ward's explanation. He looked at the others, who all had disbelief on their faces. None of them knew what to believe. "How did it happen?" he croaked out.

"How did  _what_ happen?"

"Your powers."

Ward twitched and took another long breath, "It's complicated. I was alone, in an apartment that was one of my safehouses about four months ago. After we fought, something began to click in my head that what I was doing wasn't the right thing, so I decided to be alone.

But this group of people, a weird-looking bunch, came out of nowhere and attacked me. There was a stone and then a gaseous substance. Then everything went dark. Then there was fire. I came out of the flames changed. Not in body, but mind as well. I decided to give up my insane revenge and try to start a new life, trying to understand what happened to me. Then Biogen came. I've been here three months."

Coulson saw the pain in Ward's red-colored eyes, but still didn't know what to say.

"Look,  _sir,_ I don't want to hurt anyone anymore. I've done enough here. This place… It's hell. They have a system here in which they pit Inhumans and gifteds alike against one another so they can get the strongest ones for their experiments. They kill the weaker ones. I usually kill my opponents, cause death by Biogen's way is way worse than my hand. And I should know that. They tried to kill me before , but failed.

It's like acid is in your veins and all of your bones are being crushed at once. Some kind of serum. I wasn't a 'weaker subject', I was belligerent, wild, still coming to terms with my powers. Attacked and killed two scientists. They decided that I wasn't worth it and left me for dead. But I can't be killed. The flames… They tend to have a mind of their own sometimes.

I snapped, lost control to the fire. It was like the flames were trying to get revenge for me and trying to heal me all at the same time. It was a monster. That's why bullets in my head won't work. " he continued, taking a slight pause. "And that's why I fight my way to the top, so that doesn't happen. But I still don't win. Every time I win, they experiment on me. They're doing things to me that I don't understand, preparing me for something else. That's why I would like to get the hell out of here and go back to my damn life."

Coulson nodded slightly. Was he feeling  _remorse_ for the guy? No, it couldn't be. "But you're still a danger."

"Look! I already said I have no intentions of hurting you!" Ward snapped. "I just want to be alone. I helped Lincoln 'cause I thought maybe it could get me on a better page with you. But of course it wouldn't. Then Skye came along and I couldn't help but to help. See, I care too much?

I promise to stay out of your hair. I promise to stay to myself." he continued. "I just want to be alone! Don't you understand! So what if I'm 'a danger to humanity'? There's crazier people in here than me. I'll go back to restarting my own life. One where there's no SHIELD, no Hydra, no Biogen. I'll leave you alone for God's sakes. Just let me go!"

Coulson nodded again and looked to the other agents. He looked back to Ward, "We'll talk, and then I'll get back to you." he said. He pulled the others aside. "What do I do?"

"Don't let him go, that's for sure." Bobbi spat.

"Yeah, that." Hunter agreed.

May took a breath and spoke, "We can't kill him and we can't imprison him again, that will only make things worse. But we can't trust his word that he'll leave us alone like that." she explained. "Is there a way we can monitor him?"

Coulson shook his head, "No, not without pissing him off."

"I say let him go." Skye spoke up. "I believe him. He helped me . He got Lincoln through this whole mess. Why don't let him try at a new life like he says?"

"Because you can't trust that he will." Hunter responded. "He's dangerous and crazy. There's no telling what he will do in the free world."

"Look," Lincoln began. "I don't really know the man. I don't know what he did to you guys, but he's not that bad. He's hot-headed and likes to get his own way. But there's some protective instinct in him. I saw the psychopath he was when we fought him six months ago, but I don't see that now." He sighed at looked to Ward, who was on the balls of his feet. "There's no villain in that man. I really do think that he means no harm anymore."

Coulson ran his hand through his hair, "I don't know what to do, but, honestly, letting him go is the best choice in this case. May's right. We can't kill him without unleashing a monster it seems. And imprisoning him will only make things worse." he explained. "I'm letting him go."

Disgust filled both Hunter and Bobbi's faces, but they chose not to say a single word against the Director.

He sighed and returned to Ward, "You can go, because it seems the risks of killing you or imprisoning you outweigh the risks of letting you go. But if we hear about anything bad you are doing, we will find some way to kill you."

Ward nodded stiffly, knowing that Coulson would keep that promise. "Look, you won't ever hear from me again." he said. "I'm starting a new life with a new name with the resources I have. And I'll find a legal way to stable myself. I'll just be gone from your lives."

"Good. Don't disappoint me." Coulson growled. "You know that we will come running if there's any trouble."

Ward nodded again, "Yes,  _sir._ " he stressed. He gulped and looked to Skye and Lincoln, who were the only ones here he technically 'liked'. "I guess that this is really bye then." he said.

Skye smiled, "You too,  _Robot._  Don't get in trouble." she replied softly. Ward couldn't help but smile at his old nickname.

And all Lincoln did was smile and nod at him.

Ward nodded once more and turned around, leaving the way he came. And within a matter of seconds, he was gone, most likely never to be seen again. Just like that.

The team exchanged glances with one another.

"I hope that you just didn't make the biggest mistake of our lives." Bobbi commented. "'Cause I think you did."

Skye shook her head for Coulson. "I don't think he'll be bothering us again." she said, sad at the fact that Ward would never be seen again. "I'll think he'll keep true to this word."

Bobbi shrugged, "Whatever, I still don't like it."

Coulson's gaze returned to Skye and Lincoln, "Are you two okay?" he asked. "I didn't anticipate any of that happening."

They both nodded.

"Good, but let's get back to the jet and back to the base as fast as we can in case there is anything wrong with you." Coulson responded leading the team back towards the outside.

And as they left, they didn't hear the pain-filled scream that echoed from down the hallway. They didn't notice the flames that were beginning to lick at the facility's walls, ready to burn it down. And they didn't notice the hell that was about to be unleashed in a matter of time.

They didn't know the hellfire they would burn in.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Keep the comments and kudos coming!


	11. Chapter Eleven (Already Over, Part Two)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It seems as though Ward wasn't able to escape Biogen as previously thought.

(About a Month Later)

Skye went through the Index listings, making sure that they were distinguished between Inhuman, gifted, and whatnot, just like Coulson had ordered to do. The fight with Biogen to get Lincoln back a month ago had put several more on the list and Coulson had wanted to make sure that everything was right. She kept going through them, until she stopped on one in particular.

Ward's.

Coulson had ordered for Ward to be put on the Index right after they got back, despite Ward not being there for them to do most of the registration. But they got most of it from old SHIELD files. And it seemed that Ward was keeping true to his word, they hadn't heard or seen anything about him in the past month. Skye's eyes keep going over the short listing.

_"_ _Name: Ward, Grant Douglas, Status: Inhuman, Abilities: Pyrokinesis, regenerative healing, and possible super strength due to illegal experimentation. Listing: To be handled with precaution and extreme measures. Highly unstable and unpredictable."_

There was more to it than that, but that was the only part she kept reading over and over. Skye still didn't believe that they were of the same kind, both Inhuman. It was a funny way how fate worked, if that's what it was.

"You miss him, don't you?"

The voice came so fast, that it startled Skye. She quickly went to the next listing as she saw Lincoln come around the couch. "What? I don't know what you are talking about." she said innocently.

Lincoln scoffed and stood in front of the couch, "You were staring at his listing for like the past ten minutes." he commented. "You wouldn't do that if you didn't miss him."

Skye shook her head, "No, it's not that." she began. "It's still hard to believe that we have the same blood, that he was never human."

He shrugged, "Things happen like that sometimes, I guess. Even turning psychopaths into protective Inhumans who just want to be alone. I guess he's keeping his promise to Coulson, though. He's been gone for a month now."

Skye sighed and looked down, "I guess. All of this is still weird." she stated.

"And speaking of Coulson, he wants us all in the briefing room in ten. Something about Biogen still up to their old business or something." Lincoln continued. "Let's get there before Fitzsimmons comes in and starts rambling about something I don't understand."

Skye nodded and got up, sticking her tablet under her arm. She and Lincoln walked into the briefing room and stood around the table, everyone else already there. Coulson raised an eyebrow at them.

"What took you so long?" he asked.

"Sorry, was still checking the Index listings and Lincoln just decided to tell me now that there was a meeting." Skye explained, eying Lincoln who only shrugged.

Coulson sighed, "Now, since we're all here, let's get to business." He pulled up a video on the screen in front of them. "As we all know, our assault on the Biogen facility didn't stop their schemes with Inhumans and gifteds, so they have another base. But it's come to our attention that they're using gifteds and such to capture more subjects for them.

Whether they're doing this on their own free will or against it, we don't know." he continued. "Now, I haven't watched this video yet, but it came to us from a contact who's been investigating Biogen for us." Coulson started to play the video.

They watched as a large, muscular man clad in black tactical gear approached a huddled group of what had to be Inhumans. There was no audio to the video and the man's face couldn't be seen. The man approached the group closer, letting his arms fall to his sides.

His arms trembled and  _flames_ suddenly ignited upon the skin. An eerie shiver passed through the team, something was far from right here. The group of gifteds cowered even more, afraid to do anything. They didn't look any older than their early teens.

The man held up one of his burning arms, as to signal something, and black-clad soldiers came storming into view and started to apprehend the young gifteds. Letting his arms fall back to his side, the flames extinguished and the man looked towards the camera, as if he knew it was there. A red light shone from his face and a flame appeared in his hand, throwing it towards the camera and destroying it. The video feed stopped there.

Coulson took a breath, already knowing what everyone was thinking. "Fitz, can you rewind back to where the man looked to the camera and zoom in?" he asked.

Fitz nodded slightly and fooled with the video until they got a close-up of the man's face and they all froze over. The man was no other than Ward.

Skye about threw up, "No, t-this can't be." she stammered. "It can't."

Coulson's face contorted into a snarl, "Damn figures." he spat. "I knew that he wouldn't keep his promise. Didn't think that he would go straight back to where he was though."

Hunter narrowed his eyes, "Does that mean that we actually get to go and kill the bloody fool now?" he asked.

May took a breath and examined the frozen frame of Ward face, the fire still glowing in his eyes. She knew that something wasn't right with him, but she didn't say anything.

Bobbi scoffed, "Coulson, what made you think that he would keep to his promise?" she asked. "Once a psychopath, always a psychopath."

"I agree with Bobbi." Simmons chimed in.

"Yeah, me too." Mack nodded.

Lincoln frowned and shook his head, "No, something doesn't seem right here. Why would Ward go back to the very group that was  _experimenting on him_?" he asked. "I don't think he would. I don't think that he ever got away that day."

Coulson blinked, "What do you mean?" he asked.

"Biogen was intent on doing something to him. Ward said that they experimented on him after every match or whatever they were. The one time I saw Ward fight and then get dragged away by guards, he came back different. He was wild, fierce, harsh. Biogen had done something to him, but it faded away after he went to sleep." Lincoln explained. "Biogen wouldn't have had let him get away so easily."

Coulson pointed to the screen, "Are you saying that Ward isn't doing this on his own?" he asked.

Lincoln shook his head, "Why would he?" he questioned. "That man hated Biogen with every fiber of his body, he wouldn't work with them."

Coulson's face fell and his eyes shot back to the screen, taking in Ward's fierce facial features, "He's being controlled."

Skye gulped, "No, he… He wouldn't let that happen. I've seen him fight, there's no way that he would've been caught again."

Lincoln shrugged, "There were power inhibitors in the first place before it burned down. So it's possible that they were able to use one on him and capture him. The reason why the building burned… It's probably because of a fight between Ward and guards. But the guards won."

Coulson looked at every single agent in the room. He shook his head, not sure what to say. "What were they planning on doing to him, Lincoln?" he asked, afraid that this would possibly get worse.

He shook his head, "He never said specifically, only something about cutting on him and serums. There's no telling to what they could do to him."

"Skye, Fitz, I want you two to somehow find anything about what they are doing to him. See if you can hack into Biogen servers. Ward's already dangerous as it is." Coulson barked. "I don't want this getting worse and to the point where we can't get it under control." He gulped. "I'm afraid they could be making a monster out of Ward. Literally."

* * *

(Elsewhere)

Ward awoke in a dim light, his head in splitting pain as he lay on a cold, metallic floor. His mind was a storm of disorganized thoughts and agony. And there was a blank space in his mind. How had he gotten like this?

This had been the fourth time this had happened in the month he had been in the new facility, after Biogen had recaptured him after trying to escape. Guards would come in and drag him to the labs. Scientists would inject a harsh red liquid into his veins that burned like acid. And the next thing he knew, he would be back in his cell with no memory of what happened, laying there in complete agony.

He reached for the cot to pull himself up, but missed as he wretched onto the floor. It was always like this, always. He was always being experimented on for some God-forsaken reason, more than he had been in the other place. And it always ended in agony.

He fumbled for a grip on the cot again and finally found it, shakily pulling himself up onto it and lying face-down on the rough material, ignoring the smell of vomit in the room.

His head was pounding fiercely, and he didn't know why. Thoughts swirled around in his mind. He tried to move his limbs again, but they locked-up and wouldn't respond to him. Nothing would respond.

 _"_ _Will it always be like this until I die? Pain day-after-day until it's finally over? I don't know what they're doing to me, but those serums are doing_ something  _to me. I'm becoming different by the day._

_I don't know what they want me to be and why. But there's a big reason behind all of this. I can't escape from this. There's no SHIELD to save me. No Skye. No Coulson. No nothing. They probably think I'm still keeping my word, oblivious to what's really happening to me._

_I know I'm gonna die soon, or to the point where it feels like I'm dead. And Biogen is gonna get what they want from me, 'cause there's nothing that I can do about it. There's no one to save me, I'm on my own."_

Ward groaned, burying his head further into the thin piece of fabric that was supposed to be a pillow. He tried to block out the pain. It felt like his insides were being burnt with acid. He couldn't be hurt with fire. He  _was_ fire for God's sakes. But it was pure agony what he was going through. He just wanted to fall asleep and let sleep take it all away.

No, not sleep. He wanted to die. To end it all. But he couldn't be killed. The monster was always there, watching and waiting to strike whenever someone tried to take Ward's life, even if it was himself doing so. He couldn't run, he couldn't escape. There was no end to this hell.

And no one would come to save him, no one would care. He would live like this for the rest of his life, or until Biogen was done with him and found some way to kill him. One thought swirled around his mind as he tried to sleep.

_"_ _There's no hope left for me…"_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Keep the comments and kudos coming! (Can we try to get some more comments? They make me a happy writer!)


	12. Chapter Twelve (The Dark Leads Me Blind)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skye and Fitz figure out what Biogen's doing to Ward. And it's clear that Ward's not in his right mind.

(A Few Hours Later)

Skye and Fitz read over the files that they managed to extract from Biogen that were on Ward. None of it made sense, mostly biological terminology that they didn't know. Simmons would though, they were thinking of getting her to decipher it.

"You know," Fitz began, not looking up from the files. "Why is Coulson so concerned for Ward now? It's not like he deserves it or anything."

Skye sighed, "I don't think it's concern for Ward himself, it's concern for what they could do with Ward." she responded. "Biogen was already doing something to Ward, and if they've managed to brainwash him or whatever the hell that was… It's going to be disastrous. Like they're controlling a weapon of mass destruction."

Fitz nodded and kept reading over the files, until his eye caught a particular set of information. "Hold on, what's this?" he muttered, reading the info.

_'_ _The serum is to be injected into Hellfire's bloodstream only once a week. More than that will result in system failures and he will most likely perish. A week interval is the most effective in wiping away his self-thinking processes so he'll no longer be able to think for himself. Our orders are his thoughts. This is not brainwashing, but something far more permanent._

_After injection, Hellfire becomes belligerent, wild, and unstable, but under our control. Use this opportunity to get him to gather more subjects for further testing. After a time period of six to seven hours, the serum's main effects start to dissipate and Hellfire will start to return to a normal state. Get him back to lockup as soon as possible._

_The thought-erasure process will take at least another month, so use this time to administer the other serums to perfect his body systems and increase his agility. Healing ability and strength are at top levels and are what we need for the next generation._

_When all finished, the Paragon will be ours and we will be able to create a new age of gifteds using a serum devised from his blood. After we have what we need from him in a month or so, dispose of him. There will be no more need for him. He'll only be a shell, nothing left once we're done."_

Fitz's face paled and he looked up at Skye, turning the tablet to where she could see it. "They're making him into some kind of model. They're trying to make their own gifteds using his blood." he explained. "His self-thinking processes are slowly being wiped to the point where he'll no longer be able to think for himself and he'll be a puppet to these bastards. They're slowly turning him into their own Inhuman super soldier."

Skye face fell and her stomach froze over, "Super soldiers? Thought erasure? What the hell are these guys? They're clearly not just a pharmaceutical company."

Fitz blinked, "You're just realizing that now after freeing subjects from their labs, including Lincoln and Ward?" he asked. He stood to his feet, "We need to show this to Coulson, now."

Standing to her feet, Skye frowned, "I didn't think that you cared for him." she stated.

"I didn't know that it was  _this_ bad. They're not making Ward into a monster, they're creating more monsters  _from_ him. And then they're going to kill him afterwards. If that info was up to date, it'll be in a little over a month." Fitz explained.

Skye's face turned stark-white, "No… They can't kill him. Ward said it himself, he can't be killed without unleashing some monster." she said. "There's no way."

Fitz shrugged, "After they're done with whatever the hell they're doing to him, he'll be dead in a matter of time. Like I said, we better tell Coulson before there's an army of gifted super soldiers running around."

Skye nodded numbly and she and Fitz ran out of the room, heading to Coulson's office. "Did it say if they were going to inject the thought-erasure serum anytime soon?" she called out. "Then we'll have him capturing more gifteds and Inhumans soon if that happens."

"It didn't say. But it said they did it once a week. Something about more than that will shut down his body systems. So we might have a few days." Fitz explained as they ran into Coulson's office.

Coulson stood as the two agents came bursting into the room. He knew by their composure that they had found something bad out. He took a breath before beginning, "What did you find?" he asked, afraid to find out the truth.

"Biogen's slowly wiping Ward's self-thought processes while turning him into some kind of Inhuman super soldier model. They're going to use his blood as some kind of serum to create a next generation of genetically-altered gifteds." Fitz spit out in a hurry. "Then they're going to kill him. We've got like a month."

Coulson's face slowly fell as confusion and horror set in, "Wait,  _what_?" he asked. "Fitz, slow down, I'm not understanding a word you are saying."

Fitz took a breath and explained what he and Skye had found, also giving Coulson the information to read. "We've got a few days until they give him the serum again. That's a few days until they send him out to capture more subjects. And we've got a little over a month until they're done with him and he's dead." the engineer continued.

The color drained from the Director's face as he understood and took in what the young agent was saying. "So we're running out of time?" he reiterated. "And Biogen's creating a gifted super soldier army all from Ward's blood? And they're turning him into an Inhuman super soldier?"

Skye nodded, "That's what we got from that. Sir, we don't have much time. Either he's going to be on the hunt again or dead by the time we get to him."

Coulson placed the tablet down and pinched the bridge of his nose with his one hand. "I assume they took him to a new facility since the other one burnt down to the ground. Where did they take him? Where's the new location of the new one?" he asked.

Fitz shrugged, "Somewhere in the Rockies." he replied. "Colorado, I think."

"Good. Find a better location and send it to me." Coulson ordered. He looked to Skye, "Find everyone else and tell them to get ready. Once we get the final location, we're out of here. I'm not letting any of this happen. When we're done, there will be no more Biogen."

* * *

(Elsewhere)

Ward winced as two guards shoved him down the hallway towards a single-person bathroom. Biogen had decided he was too unkempt for them and wanted him clean. For them to be slowly driving him to his death, they sure cared about his personal hygiene a little too much. Or it might be since they had sponsors, they didn't want their subjects looking like grungy cavemen.

He stared down the two guards as they pushed him. His massive, muscular frame was a clear match for the six-and-a-half foot armored guards. Whatever Biogen was doing to him was changing his physical look slightly. But he still wouldn't take them, it was too much of a risk.

They dragged him to a door, opened it, and shoved him in. They stood in the doorway, unmoving and not even shutting the door. Ward looked around real quick, realizing that this small room  _was_ the bathroom. A small shower, sink, and toilet were all that stood. And they were leaving him no privacy.

Ward narrowed his eyes, glaring at the guards. "Do you mind?" he hissed, letting the flames fill them.

The guards backed up in surprise and slammed the door, locking it from the outside so Ward couldn't get out. Ward scoffed and turned to face the mirror on the wall, almost getting startled by his appearance.

He hardly recognized the man in the mirror. He was  _huge_ , and more muscular than he remembered. His eyes had adopted a wild, yet glazed look to them. His once-spiky hair had turned unruly and long in the past month, so did his beard.

 _"_ _So much for the cavemen look._ " Ward thought, searching the counter. Biogen had left him a small razor and scissors for him to clean up with.  _"Oh, how thoughtful of them. Why do they do this when they're slowly killing me?"_

But he shrugged it off and went to work quickly trimming his hair and shaved his beard to a close stubble.  _"I guess that's slightly better."_ Ward placed the objects aside and wriggled out of his tight-fitting Biogen cell shirt. And the scar on his chest stood out. Like a ghostly reminder or what was happening to him.

It went from his collarbones to the top of his belly button. Long, jagged, and stark-white. When Biogen had brought him into this new facility, they thought it would be fun to cut his chest wide open to further test on him. All while he was still wide awake.

It had been pure hell. His blood-curdling screams echoed out in the lab while the scientists had poked and prodded at his insides. And it had never healed right since it wasn't able to heal up right away like normal. It took a few, long, painful days for it to heal up and form the ghost-like scar. Ward swung his fist into the mirror, shattering it into millions of little pieces.

He watched as blood welled up on his knuckles and as the cuts quickly healed up. He wiped the blood on his shirt and collapsed to the ground, unable to take it anymore. Pain. The pain was everything about him.

Ward's whole life now was pain. Every day they cut on him and drew his blood until he was almost dry. He had no clue to what they were preparing him for, but it had to be big with the way they were changing him. Pain, it was all pain.

He looked down to the jagged reminder on his chest and clenched his fists, swiftly jumping up to his feet with blinding speed. Thoughts swarmed in his head. Just like how they did after he awoke in his cell with his memories scattered.

"Make it stop!" he screeched, holding his head.

A figured flashed in his peripheral vision and he spun, completely freezing over as he saw who stood in front of him in the small Biogen bathroom. " _John?_ " he asked, fear lacing his voice.

Garrett stood in front of him, a sinister smile beaming on his face. He looked Ward up and down, "Jeez, son, if only you were like this before." he said. "You're definitely the gun now. The  _ultimate weapon._  I could've used you like this. You're better than any of those Centipede wimps."

Something snapped in Ward as the fire poured from his eyes. He swung his fist towards Garrett, but it passed right through him as he disappeared and smashed into the metalloid wall. A dull thud was heard as his fist dug several inches into the strong metal.

"You've got to contain that rage of yours, son."

Ward's eyes widened and he spun around to see Garrett standing opposite of him. "What are you?" he asked.

"You should be asking yourself that." Garrett mused, his image shimmering and then disappearing from view.

Ward's knees grew weak and he fell to the ground, realizing that he had been hallucinating Garrett the entire time.  _"I'm going insane. I'm losing my freaking mind."_

His vision started to blur as the door swung open with a massive thud. He looked up to see the two guards storming in.

"What the hell do you think you're doing in here?!" one of them exclaimed. "We don't have all day, princess!"

Ward waivered and he collapsed to the ground, the cold, hard steel of the floor pressing up against his face. It felt strangely good as the dark crept at the edges of his vision, starting to make him go blind.

"Let's get him and drag him the hell back." the other guard spat.

Ward felt the guards armor against his bare arms as they grabbed him with such a force that should've made him cringe, but it didn't. They started to drag him across the cold, hard floor from the bathroom. Everything hurt, everything was fuzzy. Nothing made sense.

And the last thing Ward saw before he slipped into unconsciousness was Garrett standing in the doorway of the bathroom, smiling and waving at him. His words echoed in Ward's head before the dark grabbed him.

_"_ _Just what are you, son? You're far from human now. You're the monster you were always afraid of becoming. And you've got hell to face. Because, you yourself is the hell."_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Keep the comments and kudos coming!


	13. Chapter Thirteen (My Blood Runs Dry)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ward's state starts to take a turn for the worse.

(The Next Day)

The next thing Ward knew was him waking up early the next morning with guards and the fight coordinator from the old facility, Laiyon, standing over him. "What the hell is this?" he asked groggily, pulling himself up. He narrowed his eyes, "I thought that you didn't want me fighting anymore?"

Laiyon frowned, irritated at Ward's tone, "I did." He ushered for the guards to grab Ward, "This is something entirely different. It's not the ring, yet something to test your abilities."

"I don't need to test my abilities." Ward spat, the guards gripping his massive biceps. "I don't need this."

Again, another frown. "Yes, you do." Laiyon growled back. He turned and started out of the cell, the guards dragging Ward behind him.

Ward watched as he was dragged into a massive empty room. Some form of Plexiglas was one of the walls, scientists standing behind it. He frowned, of course this was another experiment. He stood in place as scientists flocked around him, fitting him into some kind of tight-fitting black suit.

It had armor on the arms, legs, and chest. Lines covered the strange, athletic shirt-like material. Ward only guessed it was sensors of some sort to monitor whatever the hell they were about to do to him.

He looked over to the fight coordinator and frowned, "What's with the fancy armor?" he asked.

"Mostly different monitors to check your vitals and such. And this is a test of a new armor for reasons we cannot disclose with you. And this is a test of how far you're willing to go to protect yourself." Laiyon explained.

Ward narrowed his eyes, "What the hell does that mean?" he growled, looking around to see guards surround him with shock batons. He looked back to the man, "What are you doing to me?"

"Testing our control."

"What?" Ward wheeled around to see a young boy being brought into the massive room. His wrists and ankles were bound together with some kind of high-tech shackles. A pole rose from the floor and the guards bound the boy to it and stuck something over his mouth, probably so they couldn't hear him scream.

The young boy had pale white skin and icy blue eyes. A cold aura surrounded him, and Ward guessed that the boy had something to do with ice. The ice to his fire.

He looked back to Laiyon with a snarl, "What are you wanting from me?!" he demanded, the fire flaring in his eyes.

Laiyon chuckled and stroked his scraggly, black beard. "For you to kill him." he stated simply. "Incinerate him."

Ward's eyes grew wide and he felt sick to his stomach, "Why the hell would you think that I would do that?!" he exclaimed, looking to the boy, whose eyes had grown wide with fear.

Laiyon stared into Ward's fiery eyes, "Because I told you to." he crooned.

Ward's head felt heavy as something in the coordinator's eyes drilled into him. Thoughts started to swarm in his head. All telling him to kill the kid. He tried to shake it off and look away, but he couldn't. His eyes were locked onto Laiyon's.

Laiyon glowered at Ward, a slight smile growing on his face. "Your thoughts are ours, and our thoughts are yours." he said. "Now, do what we say and kill the boy. Light him up."

Something burned in his veins as Ward was forced to nod by some force. He turned around slowly to face the boy. He couldn't help his movements, but at the same time he could. His body was screaming at him to stop, but his mind was telling him something far different.

_"_ _Go ahead and kill him. It won't do anything to you. Kill him and show the child who's stronger."_

Ward stopped right in front of the kid, his eyes shaking in fear. Muffled screams could be heard from underneath the gag. Ward extended his right arm out in front of him, it shuttered and ignited in flame. The muffled screams grew louder and Laiyon's smile grew.

"Yes! Go ahead!"

But Ward didn't move, he remained frozen in that position.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Laiyon screamed. "Do what I told you."

"Don't want to kill… I don't… Listen to you…" Ward muttered, his arm falling to his side still ablaze. "Don't tell me what to do."

Laiyon's face contorted in anger and he screeched at the guards. "Show him what disobedience gets him!"

Two guards stormed forward with their shock batons and dug them into Ward's sides, the electricity hissing. But Ward didn't flinch. He didn't even move. But then his flaming arm shot out towards the guard to his right and he grabbed him, shooting the flame into the armor. He threw the man across the room, the screams echoing out as the man succumbed to the flames.

Ward spun around, glaring at the coordinator with the fire pouring from his eyes. Laiyon's stomach froze over, seeing reddish, vein-like  _something_ crawling its way up Ward's neck and onto his face. The serum.

This had only happened once. The serum started driving the subject mad and these red veins were a sign of so. Laiyon gulped and stepped back as Ward approached him. No guards came forward to help, they were afraid of meeting the same fate as the earlier soldier.

Ward came right to the man and grabbed him by the throat, hoisting him into the air. His fire-filled eyes drilled into the man, "What makes you think that you can control me?" he hissed, his voice slightly distorted. "I don't want to kill. Unless it's you."

Laiyon gulped, fear in his eyes, "Now, you don't understand what you are doing." he began, but Ward tightened his already-strong hold on the man's throat.

"I know exactly what I'm doing." he growled, the veins twisting and swirling. "You ruined my life, my chance at anything normal. I could've lived with pyrokinesis, I could've. But not like this. You turned me into a bigger freak than what I was. If I had a chance, a chance at a life after everything I've done… It's gone now. Don't you think that I wanted to settle down and live a normal life? Now I can't because of you. Who the hell is going to accept me like this?!" he screeched, lifting Laiyon further into the air.

Laiyon was now suffocating from Ward's harsh grip, and he couldn't say a single word in response.

"You turned me into a monster and I'm slowly dying. Soon there will be nothing of me left and everything I ever wanted will be in the dust." Ward went on. The fire in his eyes grew, "I didn't ask for any of this."

"Of course you didn't." Laiyon garbled out. "You have no agency here. You're not Grant Ward, only Hellfire.  _Our_ Hellfire. You're our property and you'll do what we say until we're done with you. Ack!" Ward started to crush Laiyon's windpipe.

"I am no one's property." Ward spat. "I don't belong to anyone. I'm not your slave, I'm not your prisoner. I am not your subject. I'm not your damn Paragon or whatever the hell it is. I am my own person."

"You are…  _A monster._ " Laiyon managed to say. "All you'll ever be."

A muscle twitched in Ward's face and he fully closed his hand around the man's throat and crushed his windpipe. The man started fighting for breath and Ward threw him across the room, his body slamming into the concrete wall with a sickening thud. The limp body slumped to the ground, no live left in it.

Ward growled and turned to face the guards, "Who's next?" he hissed. But he froze, seeing six of them all ganging up on him each with a shock baton. Ward screamed out in pain as the six baton were jabbed into his body and electricity crackled throughout it.

The jagged confusion started to melt from his mind as darkness danced at the edge of his vision. He fell to the ground with a thud. Reaching out and clawing at the ground, one word escaped his lips before darkness fully took him.

"Help."

* * *

(Elsewhere)

Coulson stood in the center of the jet as they flew over the plains of the Midwest. He looked at every single member of his team in the eye. "Now, I know a few of you don't want to be on this mission." He began. "But this isn't a matter of Ward here. It's a matter of Biogen making a new generation of gifteds or not. We get Ward and bring him back to base. Well, back to Vault D since there's no telling to what state he's in if Biogen's really changing him."

Simmons grimaced, hating what they were having to do. She was in the same boat as Hunter and Bobbi, they didn't want to rescue Ward. They wanted to leave him there and let him die. And Mack wasn't too fond of the notion of rescue either.

Only Skye and Lincoln were the ones that wanted Ward out of there. Fitz was somewhat okay with the idea and May didn't care, as long as he didn't try anything and it stopped Biogen's actions.

"Again, we'll split into teams. Skye and Lincoln, Hunter and Morse, and Me and May. Fitzsimmons and Mack will stay on the jet and provide area support as always. It's most likely that the security's higher in this place than the other since our last 'visit'. And definitely if they're intent on keeping Ward." Coulson explained.

"Like I said, there's no telling what state he's in since his ways of thinking are slowly being erased. It's likely that he may not be in his right mind, and that will make him even more dangerous than he is." he continued. "And, if they're changing his physical abilities to suit their needs, there's no telling to how he's like now. There's no telling to what he could do."

An eerie silence drifted around the jet. No one knew what to say and everyone was afraid. They were terrified of facing Ward, even after their last confrontation. But now, now was worse. They didn't know what an Inhuman super solider could be like, especially with his capability of self-thinking slowly fleeting.

It was a suicide mission. There was a chance that they may not make it out alive.

Skye gulped, casting a glance over to Lincoln, whose face told her that he was afraid. Lincoln had spent time with the Inhuman and knew somewhat what they were doing to him. And that convinced him that it was way worse now after an entire month.

Coulson took a breath and continued, "And if the mission seems a failure and Ward's too far gone… I give you permission to kill him."

"I thought he said we couldn't kill him." Hunter stated. "Something about a monster or whatnot."

The director swallowed the lump in his throat. "And if that happens… Retreat. Run and get the hell out of there."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please keep the comments and kudos coming! (And nice comments please. I had one in particular that wasn't very nice.)


	14. Chapter Fourteen (To The Vile Beneath)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ward goes rampant right as the team arrives.

(About an Hour and a Half Later)

Ward jumped up with a start, everything roaring in his head as he came back from unconsciousness. His entire body trembled as his eyes searched the room. The cell. He had been thrown back in the cell.

His mind trailed back to killing Laiyon, crushing his windpipe and hurling him into the concrete wall. But he didn't feel sympathy, only fear of himself. He swatted at the air as black blobs swirled in the room and took the form of faceless silhouettes. His fist passed straight though one and drilled right into the metalloid wall.

_"_ _Monster… I am… Monster… Can't live… Like this… Everyone… Hate…End… Make it end…"_

His fist pounded into the wall again and the silhouettes faded from his tunneled vision. Hit after hit, Ward continued to take his anger and fear out on the wall. The metal began to bend in outward from the force of his brute strength.

"Make it all end!" he screeched, still pounding at the wall. "Monster!"

Just then, the cell's door swung wide open and a guard stormed in. "Hey, what the hell do you think you're doing?!" he exclaimed.

Ward stopped abruptly and spun around to glare at the guard, the fire flowing from his eyes and the red veins twisting up and down his bare arms and from his neck to his face. The guard stumbled back, unaware that Ward would act like this. With a growl, Ward shot forward and grabbed the man.

He ripped his arm straight from the socket and threw it aside as the guard began to scream in agony. Then he grabbed his body and threw it against the wall, storming out and not even bothering to further deal with him. Fire started to burn off of him as he rampaged down the hallway.

An alarm started to ring out as the fire licked at the concrete walls, which didn't do a single thing. Guards started pouring out of pretty much everywhere, heading towards Ward. He growled and the fire shot up his arms and he flung fireballs at two guards, which enveloped them and quickly started to melt their armor. They dropped to the ground, screaming out as Ward glared at the remaining guards.

The guards started to back away from him, but Ward charged forward towards them. Fire engulfing his body, Ward's newfound speed allowed him to slam into the guards before they could take off. He grabbed two of them and slammed their helmets together, resonating with a sickening crack, and they fell to the ground.

Grabbing another, he slung the armored man several feet, hitting a support beam and crashing straight through it. Ward took another by the arm and also tore it straight from the socket. By now, the others had retreated, leaving Ward with the corpses of four guards and a severed arm in the hallway.

_"_ _Don't you see, son? You do all of this and don't call yourself a monster. You pretty much tore them apart. That's my definition of a monster."_

Ward's stomach fell despite all of the chaos in his mind. He spun around with a growl to see Garrett stepping over a corpse and striding over towards him. He snarled, "I'm not… Monster…" His words were broken due to the tempest in his mind.

Garrett snorted,  _"Yes you are. You're letting everything wrong with you control you."_ he explained.  _"You're being the monster that they turned you into. Maybe even more. The veins that lace across your body like snakes prove that. They're a symbol of your rage and insanity. Oh, if only you were like this when we were fighting Coulson."_

Ward let his arms flare up again as he stepped forward, "Coulson… Not my enemy." he replied brokenly. "Not anymore. Left that behind…"

Garrett sneered,  _"Wake up, son. What's wrong with you? You're not SHIELD. They tried to kill you. They mocked you. They stepped upon you like you like trash. They should be your enemy. Aren't you my protégé?"_

The fire in Ward's eyes sparked and flared and he lunged towards Garrett, "You don't control me!" he hissed. But of course, he passed straight through Garrett and landed with a thud onto the ground behind the illusion.

_"_ _Then you're pathetic, weak. Even in this monstrous state of yours. And no one will ever accept you like this. You're a freak of nature, Inhuman super soldier or not. You'll die alone with no grave to mark your name. I'm ashamed of you."_

And like that, Garrett was gone. Ward's eyes widened as he came to his feet, swaying just a bit. Thoughts swarmed in his head all screaming for death, but for different people.

_"_ _Garrett's fault! Kill him! Kill him! No! No! No! Biogen's! Biogen's! Made me into this! Kill them! Kill them! No! No! No! SHIELD's fault! SHIELD's fault! Kill them! Kill them!"_

Ward hissed and started to take everything out on the wall again, the acid of the serum burning in his veins. The concrete wall shuttered as Ward's fists started to knock away at it. Bits of concrete started to fly from his bleeding fists.

"Get him!"

Two guards ran up to Ward, shooting several bullet rounds at him. But it didn't harm him. The metal bullets only burnt up in the heat of his enraged form and pissed him off even more. Ward spun around with blinding speed and grabbed the two guards, slamming their heads into the concrete wall to the point where they got stuck like that. Now two corpses hung from the wall.

Ward glared at them, voices screaming in his head until an actual voice screamed out towards him, pulling from his state of enraged insanity momentarily.

"Grant! Calm down! Stop it!"

Ward froze and spun around, seeing Skye running towards him, Lincoln not too far behind her. Voices still screamed in his head and anger still burned deep in his chest. But Skye's voice had pierced through something, stopping his rampage just long enough for one thing,

"Skye?" he asked. Suddenly, black spots danced at the edges of his vision, and he waivered and collapsed to the ground. And Skye's voice was all he heard as unconsciousness claimed him once again.

"Grant! Grant!"

* * *

(Sometime Ago)

By the time Coulson and the team, minus Fitzsimmons and Mack, had stepped into the Biogen building, it was already a war zone. Alarms blared and guards ran straight past them, ignoring them.

Coulson's face paled as he looked to the team, "Looks like we got here a little too late." he stated, reaching for his ICER.

A guard screamed into their comms as they ran by, "Hellfire's loose and he's gone crazy! Use all attempt to kill! That's an order!"

"Way too late." Hunter furthered. "Sir, you don't plan on us confronting him like that? I suggest that we turn around right freaking now and call this off."

Coulson shook his head, "We didn't come all this way just to turn around and go home." he responded. "We need to find Ward before Biogen has a chance to take his blood. If they kill him, they can get his blood. Find him, somehow subdue him. But, whatever you do, don't engage.

We don't know what he's like now after a month of further experimentation. He could be a complete monster and a total lost cause by now." he continued. Coulson looked to Skye and Lincoln, "It actually may be for the best if you two are the ones that find him. He'll possibly act better towards the two of you than he'll will with any of the rest of us. Try to calm him down and bring him to his senses if that's what you have to do.

Don't try to fight him if at all possible. And if any of us are the ones to find him, we'll subdue him until you two can come and deal with it. You two are best suited to deal with him since he's Inhuman as well. But I don't know about the further augmentations to him, but still. Please don't let this end in vain."

Skye nodded slightly, looking briefly over to Lincoln, "Sir, we'll try. Ward wasn't quite in his right mind a month ago. So there's no telling to how he is now. Do you think it's possible that… That he is completely gone?"

"Then we'll find a way to deal with him before Biogen can do it themselves." Coulson replied. "His body is gold in Biogen's hands, so we've got to keep him away from them before they can finally use his blood. Again, don't let this end in vain."

All of the agents nodded numbly before spitting up, Skye and Lincoln going their own way. They ran down the halls, looking for any sign of a rampant Ward.

"How do we even know if he still looks the same?" Lincoln asked, keeping his eyes ahead. "He could be green and have four arms for all we know."

"I don't think they went that far." Skye said back. "They made him into some form of a super soldier, not an alien. But you do have a point."

Lincoln nodded briskly, returning his full attention to running. The two agents ran for what seemed like a long time before a scream pierced through the hallway, stopping them dead in their tracks.

Skye's face fell as she turned to face Lincoln, "That sounded like Ward."

_"_ _You don't control me!"_

Lincoln's eyes widened, "Very much like Ward. But something's not right there. Either Biogen has him cornered or something else is happening." he stated. He pointed to a corner, "And it sounded like it came around from there."

Skye nodded, fear filling her. She didn't know what kind of Ward she was about to face. There was no telling what he was like now. "O-Okay." she stammered, following Lincoln to the corner.

They peered around the corner to see Ward, several feet down the corridor, slamming his fists into the wall.

"Yeah, he's lost it." Lincoln muttered, seeing corpses on the ground. "And it looks like he's already been confronted."

They watched in horror as two guards came out of nowhere, and started shooting at Ward. Ward spun around and grabbed the two men, slamming their heads into the concrete wall with brute force. Skye launched forward down the corridor as the bodies hung from the wall.

Lincoln's eyes widened and he bolted forward after her, "Skye! Stop! You don't know what you're getting yourself into! He's mad!" he screamed.

"Grant! Stop it! Calm down!" Skye yelled, running towards the angered brute.

"Skye, don't do this!" Lincoln screamed, still running after Skye to keep her away from the crazed Ward.

Skye's eyes widened as she saw Ward freeze up and look at her, the anger fading from his face and a look of recognition replacing it. But something red laced up and down his arms and even on his neck. Ward suddenly faltered and collapsed to the cold, hard ground.

And Skye sped up, intent on getting to the Inhuman. No, he wasn't going to die. Too much had happened to him for it to end like this. He hadn't gone through hell only to succumb to his demons. Skye wasn't going to let that happen.

"Grant! Grant!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Keep the comments and kudos coming!


	15. Chapter Fifteen (The Victim of Violence)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things go down with Ward which make Skye realize that he's far from okay.

Skye skidded to a complete stop right next to Ward's unconscious body and she couldn't help but marvel at how muscular he had become. Apparently, Biogen had been turning him into a god and not an Inhuman super soldier. And he also looked taller.

She gulped and crouched down beside him, unsure if she should wake him or not. She looked him over, seeing the faint outlines of something red crisscrossing his arms and his neck. That's what she had seen moments ago, when he had beat the two guards to death against the wall. His pained, heavy breathing was loud in the hallway.

"Skye, it's probably best that you don't wake him." Lincoln stated, coming to a stop in front of them. "Considering what we saw him doing earlier." His eyes widened at Ward's massive size, "Is it me, or is he bigger than he was?"

Skye nodded, "Probably whatever they were doing to him increased his muscle mass and height. Kind of reminds me of Thor, but in a good way."

Lincoln raised an eyebrow, "You've never even met Thor, have you?" he asked.

"I've seen pictures and video." Skye retorted. Her eyes returned to Ward, "I don't know what to do with him." she continued. "The best thing is to keep him safe until we can get Coulson and the others here."

"And how are we supposed to keep him safe in a facility that deals with people like us?" Lincoln questioned, looking around the hallway.

Skye gulped and look around as well, her eyes resting on two sets of doors that, when closed, would block off the hallway. And they both seemed to be electronically controlled. "There's two sets of doors on both ends of this hallway." she began. "See if you can override their controls or short-circuit them to get them to shut. That will probably keep us safe until I can contact Coulson."

Lincoln nodded and ran to the first set of doors to see what he could do with them, hopefully just what Skye had said.

Skye returned her attention to Ward, who was actually beginning to stir. She scooted back some, afraid what he would do when he woke. Taking a breath, she prepared for the worst.

Ward's eyes fluttered open, widening as soon as he saw Skye. He straightened up, but didn't jump up or run off. His pupils shrunk in fear, "Skye." he muttered. "Y-You came back for me."

Skye gulped, "More like Coulson didn't really want to rescue  _you_ but to stop whatever the hell Biogen's doing here. And that involved saving you. Lincoln, maybe Fitz, and I were about the only ones that thought this was a good idea. The others didn't."

Ward nodded slightly, looking down the hall to see Lincoln doing something with a door. "You're afraid of me, aren't you?" he asked softly, looking down. "'Cause I'm some kind of monster."

Skye's heart skipped a beat, hearing what Ward thought of himself. She gently shook her head, "No, I'm not. And you don't look like a monster either. Actually, you remind me of Thor more or less with that build of yours." she said, with a slight smile. "You're not the monster in this case, Biogen is. And they're wanting to create monsters  _from_ you.

We found out. Made you into some kind of Inhuman super soldier so they have the perfect model for some artificially-created gifted generation. All created from your blood. That's why Coulson wants to get you out of here, before that can all happen." Skye continued. "We didn't know that it was this bad."

Skye frowned, feeling his vitals increase, probably from pain or anxiety. She couldn't tell.

"And when he does get me out of here, what happens then?" he asked. "The Vault again? He already knows that I can't be killed. So imprisonment is his only option. He's not going to let me go again."

Skye shook her head, "I really don't know." she replied softly. "He never got that far. He kept thinking that you were too far gone and we would have to find some way to kill you."

"Gah, dammit!"

Skye frowned, hearing Lincoln's curse. She stood up and looked down to Ward, who looked pitiful at this point, "I'll be right back." she said. She went to turn around but felt Ward tug at her hand. She looked back to see him looking up at her, pain in his brown eyes, no fire in them whatsoever.

"Skye, please don't leave me alone." he pleaded. "Don't let them come back." His eyes darted around to the corpses littering the floor, "I've already killed several of them today, but I couldn't help it. I lost it. Didn't know what I was doing. They'll come full force for me… I won't be able to win next time."

Pity for the Inhuman tugged at her stomach. For him to be like this, she knew it had to been horrible for him. To see how broken, how much in pain he was… She could hardly stand it. For that time, she almost forgot the crazy villain he had been for such a short time.

"Don't worry, we're not leaving you. Lincoln's trying to lock the hallway down, but I don't know how well he's doing so." Skye replied. "I'm just going to see. I promise that there will be no guards."

Ward nodded and looked down briefly before looking back up to see Skye walk towards Lincoln. He stood up, trying to stretch out his muscles, but a wave of vertigo hit him. He had to hang onto the wall to make it pass. But the burn of the acid-like serum washed through his veins.

He held his arms out in front of him to see the red, snake-like veins twisting their way up them. His eyes drifted to Skye, thoughts that he would've never thought of storming through his mind

_"_ _Why don't you kill her and run? She'll 'save' you alright, just like how she shot you four times and left you for dead. They'll lock you away again… Like the pathetic monster you are."_

Red washed across his vision as he tried to fight back. The serum was still trying to break down his mind for Biogen. But… But he wouldn't let that happen. Always in the end, though, he couldn't. He couldn't fight it.

He looked back to Skye right as everything went black, and he wouldn't know what would happen in the next few moments.

"Lincoln, what the hell are you doing?" Skye asked, standing behind the man. "I thought you were closing this door."

"Yeah, but it's much harder than just sending a shock of electricity in it." Lincoln retorted, turning around to face Skye. "It's like Biogen's prepared for anything."

Skye sighed, "Guess we'll just have to defend the area until Coulson can come. Let me contact Coulson and…" she trailed off as she noticed fear growing in Lincoln's face. His eyes were wide and shaking, and he was pointing behind her. "What's going on?"

She turned around just in time to have a massive hand grip her neck and slam her against the wall. Her eyes widened to see Ward's own eyes, now red and seething with flames, glaring into hers. The red veins from earlier lacing up his bare arms and his neck.

"Grant… Stop…" she choked out. "It's me… Skye…"

"Don't care… Want you dead… Will just imprison me…" Ward growled out, the broken speech returning.

Fear gripped her stomach as Lincoln began to step away from them. And he was oddly going behind the brute. "No… I won't. Grant, please let me go. You're going to kill me… And I know… You can't live with that on your chest… You still care for me… Despite everything that's happened. You wouldn't be able to live with yourself."

Ward's grip softened, but his devilish gaze didn't. He continued to glare at Skye, even though it seemed as though something was starting to break through to him. "What do… You mean?" he huffed, clearly in a whole lot of pain. And Skye could sense it.

"You tell yourself that you don't care for us… Especially since that rampage you went on… But you honestly do. You would defend us with your life, especially me." Skye continued. "You won't do anything to me. Whatever's in your veins… It's doing something to your brain. You can't let it do that. This is what Biogen wants."

And with that, Ward's face fell, realizing through this moment that Biogen was still pretty much controlling hm. Through his immense rage and blackout moments when he couldn't control himself. He let his hand fall from Skye's neck, and she dropped to the ground, rubbing her neck and coughing.

But Ward didn't stand down. He continued to glare at Skye, seeming at any moment that he would attack again. Skye held her hands up, as if she was trying to confront a beast. But in this case, she was.

"Calm down, Grant. Before someone gets hurt." she pleaded softly. "I don't know what's wrong with you, but please."

"Don't tell me… What to do…" Ward growled lowly. With a snarl, he started to lunge at her again, but a loud crackle and the sharp smell of ozone filled the air. Ward dropped like a rock to the ground, unconscious once again. And his hair stood up on end.

Skye's eyes widened, looking to see Lincoln in front of them, his hands up. "Sorry." he said, letting his hands fall. "I really thought that he was going to kill you. I had to ." He looked to Ward's body, "Hopefully that will keep him out until Coulson can do something with him. So you might want to contact Coulson before the sleeping giant wakes up."

Skye nodded, still shaken by the whole thing, and stepped to the side. She activated her comms and waited a bit before speaking, "Coulson?"

_"_ _Skye, are you okay? We still haven't found Ward anywhere. And it's starting to worry me."_

"Lincoln and I found him, and had to subdue him." Skye began. "When we found him, he was rampant and then fell unconscious. He woke up long enough for me to explain things. We were trying to secure the area and Ward… He just completely lost it. He tried to kill me. Whatever's in his veins, sir, it's really screwing with him."

_"_ _Skye, please tell me that he's still there. I don't want a rampant Ward running around here. And I definitely don't want Biogen getting their disgusting hands on him."_

"Don't worry. Lincoln had to shock him and it knocked him out. But you probably need to hurry up and get here so we can get him out of here. But there's one problem though."

_"_ _And what's that?"_

"He's like the stature of Thor right now. Whatever Biogen did to him increased his muscle mass and height. Okay, maybe more than Thor." Skye explained to the Director. "I don't know how we're going to get the brute out of here."

_"_ _We'll find a way. Skye, you and Lincoln need to stay right there. Don't leave Ward whatsoever. Keep any Biogen guards away from him. We're on our way."_

And with that, Coulson disconnected.

Skye nodded and looked back to Lincoln, "Coulson's on his way now. He just said to keep Ward safe and any Biogen guards away from him." she said. "And he'll find a way to get him out of here."

Lincoln nodded and response and looked down to the knocked-out Inhuman, "Let's just hope that he stays out long enough for us to at least get him to the jet. But I don't know how long an electric shock can keep someone like him out. He's a brute. He might be up and crazed again in a matter of minutes.

Things like that affect highly muscular people differently. And considering he's Inhuman and has been changed with numerous different serums… It'll affect him way differently. And he's probably got a very high metabolism. I wouldn't be surprised if he needs over 4,000 calories a day." Lincoln continued explaining.

"I know you went to med school before you changed, but you don't have to get all technical on me." She raised an eyebrow, "Why couldn't you fix my shoulder? You let Ward burn it. Well, it's okay, but still."

"Skye, we were in a closet that had no medical supplies. There was nothing I could use." Lincoln responded. "And I wasn't going to try and argue with Ward at that moment. Even though cauterizing was an okay idea, it wasn't the best. Like I said, not arguing with him."

Skye sighed and looked back down to Ward, "Come on, Grant. Stay sane long enough for us to get you some form of help."

But it wouldn't go the way she thought. It would only get worse from here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Keep the comments and kudos coming!


	16. Chapter Sixteen (I've Made My Mistakes)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ward is brought back to the jet, but things are getting worse.

The team's eyes widened as they made their way into the hallway in which Skye and Lincoln were keeping Ward. His now-massive form was what surprised them. They already started to wonder how the hell they were going to manage to get him anywhere.

"Are you sure he's out?" Coulson asked as they came up to them. "That he won't, you know, wake up and freak and try to kill us?"

Lincoln shrugged, "I really don't know." he replied. "A shock like that would put a man like, let's say, Hunter out for a few hours. Him? I really don't know. He's got to be at least 6'6" and 240 pounds of pure muscle. No telling how fast his body works, especially with being Inhuman and having a concoction of serums running through his body." he explained. "Maybe an hour, two at best."

Coulson gulped, looking at Ward's fallen form. "I know it may not be the best to bring him back to the base in the condition he's in." he began. "If he snaps how Skye said… It's not going to be good. It takes a good two hours to get back to the base in the jet. And getting him in is another story. We're going to have to put him into the Vault until whatever the hell's wrong with him passes."

Hunter raised an eyebrow, looking at Ward's unconscious form, "Coulson, the man's bigger than any of. How are we going to get him back to the jet? You have only one hand and me and Lincoln isn't enough to get that brute out of here."

Skye looked to Ward, noticing that his face was twitching. He was waking up. She stepped back a bit, "Uh, guys? I think he's waking up." she said.

The team stepped back in fear as Ward's eyes snapped open and he jolted into a sitting position. His eyes widened as he realized who was surrounding him. But he didn't jump up, same as it had been with Skye. "So you really did come back for me." he said, looking at Coulson.

There was no sign of the red, serum-induced veins on him anywhere. His mind was as clear as it could be. For now.

Coulson nodded slightly, "Couldn't let Biogen finish what they were doing with you. Can you stand? We need to get out of here as fast as we can, and it'll help if you can walk to the jet."

"Where are you taking me?" Ward asked, fear lacing his voice.

"The base. You need medical help to clear up a few reversible things that Biogen did to you." Coulson explained.

Ward snorted as he came to his feet, looming over the team with his massive height. "Like any of this can be erased." he almost snapped, gesturing towards himself. "I'm stuck like this freak forever."

"Maybe not your height, but whatever they've been doing to your mind." Coulson continued. "If it's not dealt with soon, there's a possibility that it may cause permanent damage. You need help."

Fire sparked in Ward's eyes, "I don't need your damn help." he snapped. "I don't mental help."

"Grant," Skye began, gripping his arm with her hand. "I've seen what's wrong with you. You don't need to relapse again. We'll find a way to erase the effects of the serum. You've just got to let us help. No one's going to kill you. I'll make sure of that."

Ward hesitated, but ended up nodding in agreement. He just couldn't say no to Skye, especially after everything that had happened. He looked back to Coulson, "Fine. Lead the way. Just please, keep Biogen off of my ass. I don't want to deal with them anymore. Please."

Coulson nodded, looking to May, Hunter, and Bobbi, "Okay, we'll do that. Ward, promise me one thing though. Obey my orders. One step out of line, and we'll find a way to make sure that you're dead. Understand?"

Ward straightened up and nodded briskly, "Y-Yes sir." he stammered in response. "I understand."

Coulson smiled, "Good." He turned around. "Now let's get the hell out of this hellhole, shall we?" He started to lead them out the way that they came.

Ward looked at Skye hesitantly, but she smiled and took his hand, leading him forward. He slightly blushed, it was a good thing that Skye didn't see him do so. How Skye was acting towards him now… It reminded him of the good old days, before his betrayal. The days that he missed.

The days when he wasn't a giant, human flamethrower with severe mental issues due to a screwed-up serum.

As they walked, it seemed eerily quiet around. Ward assumed that Biogen had given up on him, declared him a lost cause. And Ward knew that it was true, that he really was a lost cause.

He knew that the acidic serum flowing through his veins was slowly driving him to the edge of insanity. And someone would end up getting hurt by his hands eventually. And he was afraid that that someone would be Skye.

* * *

(The SHIELD Jet.)

Fitzsimmons and Mack came to their feet as the others, including Ward, came into the jet. Coulson looked at them and then looked to May, "May, get us into the air and get us the hell out of here." He looked back to Ward, "Ward, just sit down."

Ward nodded as May went to get them into the air. He went and sat down, Skye and Lincoln sitting on either side of him. Mack stepped as side as both Fitz and Simmons came to stand in front of Ward, marveling at his size.

Ward waived his hand dismissively, "Go ahead and say what you want about my size." he said. "I don't care what you say. And don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you whatsoever. I'm past that."

"You're huge!" Fitz said, clamping a hand over his mouth as it slipped out.

Ward frowned, "Oh, wow, thanks for making it sound like I'm fat or pregnant." he muttered. "It's all muscle. Nothing more, nothing less."

Fitz lowered his voice, "But you really do control fire, right?" he asked. It seemed as though all of his fear of Ward had melted into pure marvel over him. "Is it true?"

Ward sighed, even though he was amazed that Fitz was basically freaking out over him. He held out his palm, letting a small fireball blaze up in it. "You happy?" he asked.

Fitz's eyes widened in awe as Simmons pulled him back. "Fitz, don't get hurt because of your curiosity." she scolded. Her attention returned to Ward, "I want to see later just what Biogen did to you. It's the only thing I'm getting out of this."

Ward winced noticing her cold and harsh tone, but he tried to ignore it as the two scientists walked away.

"Don't set anything on fire, Ward. This jet is too expensive." Coulson joked from the copilot's seat.

Ward rolled his eyes, "Don't worry, I won't. And I won't snap either. It's just that…" Ward trailed off as his mind drew a blank. Voices started screaming in it again. He stared off into the distance.

"It's just what?" Coulson asked, not looking back.

Skye frowned and looked over to Ward, "Earth to Grant." she said, waving her hand in front of his eyes. No response. Then she saw the red veins crawling up his neck. Her stomach lurched, but Ward didn't do anything.

He continued to stare ahead as black spots danced as the edges of his vision, the voices growing louder and louder.

And he didn't hear Skye and the team's screams as the metal of the jet floor came rushing up to meet him.

Once again, darkness met him like an old friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Keep the comments and the kudos coming!


	17. Chapter Seventeen (Cold, Crippled, Shallow)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ward just keeps going more downhill.

(A Couple Days Later)

Ward awoke in a fit of violent thrashing and screaming. The black silhouettes danced around him, laughing at heckling at his tortured form. Garrett stood off in the corner, a wicked smile gleaming.

He fell to what seemed to be a cold, metal floor, something ripping from his hand. The acid of the serum burning strong throughout his body. "Make it stop!" he screeched, swinging his fist into the ground and causing a deep dent. "Make it stop!"

"Grant! Calm down!"

Ward's eyes widened and he stopped frozen. The silhouettes faded from his vision as he looked up to see Skye standing in the same room, holding something in her hands. He rose slightly, only able to sit up from the burning pain. "S-Skye?" he asked. "W-Where the hell am I?"

"SHIELD base. But not the Vault though. This is a special room for, well, unstable gifteds. Built it once we started dealing with more gifteds." Skye explained. She pointed up at the ceiling. "There's a special type of inhibitor in this room. Stops your flames, but it seems like it doesn't stop your strength."

Ward's face fell, "You're going to have me killed, aren't you?" he asked.

Skye shook her head, pulling a chair out of the corner of the room and sitting down, "No, we're not. We're trying to clear up whatever the serum's doing to your head. And get you healthy. Simmons and Lincoln suspects that you haven't been fed properly in the past few weeks. They think you need at least 4,000 calories every day to keep going. They doubt you've even gotten half that.

An IV was working on that." she continued. "But it's not known how long it'll take for the serum to be fully out of your system. A week at the least. You've already gotten that somewhat down."

"How long have I been out?" Ward asked, pulling himself to his feet and towering over Skye.

"Two days. You fell unconscious on the jet. You've been screaming ever since. Nightmares or something." Skye responded. "Hopefully that will all be gone once the serum's out of your system."

"Can the…  _Other things_ be reversed?" Ward asked lowly, sitting on the cot in the corner.

Skye shook her head, "No, they can't. The other serums, which when all combined was similar to the serum that created Captain America, permanently changed your body. Your height, strength, and speed will stick with you."

"So I'm stuck as a damn Inhuman Captain America?!" Ward snapped, fire starting to glow in his eyes. "Like a freak?!"

Skye frowned, knowing that everything messed up Ward. "You're not a freak, Grant. You're only like 6'7" and 240 or so pounds, we measured. More like Thor. You're pure muscle. I actually quite like it."

Ward's eyes widened and he looked to the floor quickly before looking back up to Skye. He pointed to the object in her hands, "What's that?" he asked, trying to change the subject.

Skye lifted the object up. It was a bowl. "It's a bowl of soup." she replied. "Vegetable with some beef. I made it. I brought down food here for the past two days hoping that you would wake up, but that didn't happen. I thought you would be hungry, especially if you haven't eaten well in a few weeks."

Ward was now aware of the gnawing hunger in his stomach and the smell of beef in the air. He held out his hand, "Hand it over." he muttered, wincing as the acid still burned in his veins.

Skye smiled, getting up and walking over. She handed the bowl to him, a spoon inside of it, "Don't eat too fast. Simmons said that's all you could probably eat at once for a while."

Ward nodded and picked up the spoon, trying to steady his hand as it shook. Skye watched as Ward took a few bites very slowly. She knew that he was in pain, she could see it in how he moved. Slowly and shakily.

"Why are you doing this for me?" Ward muttered. "Why care now?"

Skye blinked and looked down. She shrugged, "I really don't know. Just seeing you like how you are…"

"So it's pity." Ward stated lowly, letting the spoon drop into the bowl with a clank. "That's all it is. No one really wanted to rescue me anyways. It was just about stopping Biogen's experiments. Coulson didn't want more of me running around. That's all. You don't care what happens to me."

"No… That may be true with Bobbi and Hunter… Maybe Simmons." Skye replied. "Not me. Lincoln and I were the ones that pleaded that you get help. Most of the others wanted to dump you to die. At least Coulson was willing to listen. You're not going to die. Coulson's going to make sure of that."

Ward's eyes started to fill with pain as he started to eat the soup again. He kept his gaze from Skye, not knowing what to say anymore. Skye watched as he finished eating and handed the bowl back to her.

"Thank you." he muttered. "At least you seem to care. Skye… You don't know what hell they put me through. It was experiment after experiment. The pain never ended. And now I'm like this…"

Skye nodded, "You'll be fine. Go back to sleep. I'll get a med agent in here to put back your IV." she said. She went to turn around, but Ward grabbed her arm.

"Skye, please don't leave me here by myself." he pleaded. His eyes drifted to the corner where the hallucination of Garrett was standing there, smiling at waving at him, "Don't leave me with my thoughts."

Skye hesitated, not sure if she wanted to stay any longer in here. She saw the red veins of the serums lacing up his arms and neck. She softly pulled her arm from his strangely soft grip. "Coulson wanted me to come see him in a while."

Ward watched as Skye left the room, leaving him to himself. He buried his face in his hand, knowing that she was afraid of him. Skye was afraid that he was going to snap and kill her. Like he had done with the Biogen guards.

 _"_ _She doesn't want to be around you, son."_ Garrett teased as Ward looked up to see him striding over to him.  _"Skye's afraid of the monster that you've become. No one's ever going to like you again."_

"You're the freaking one to talk." Ward spat, the anger rising to the breaking point once again. "The only monster here is you."

Garrett sneered at him,  _"Like hell. You're the abomination created by science and born of Inhuman blood. You're the real monster."_

Ward screamed as he snapped, the veins and his eyes glowing bright red. He launched off of the bed and flew straight through Garrett's image, slamming into the metalloid wall. He snarled and spun around, glaring at the passed-Hydra agent.

_"_ _What did I say? Monster."_

Ward swung at Garrett, punch after punch slicing through nothing but air. Garrett laughed as his form shimmered. Another scream as Garrett disappeared and reappeared behind Ward. Ward spun around and kept swinging, his fists driving into the wall.

 _"_ _That's all you'll ever be son."_ Garrett laughed.  _"A monster hell-bent on death and destruction. You'll drive yourself to your grave with insanity before anyone can help you."_

* * *

(Coulson's Office)

"Skye, what did I tell you about going in there?!" Coulson exclaimed, glaring at Skye. "It was lucky that he woke up in his right mind!" He pointed at the live-feed of Ward raging and losing his mind at nothing. "And you're lucky that you were able to get the hell out of there! No one's supposed to go in there without my clearance! You know the inhibitors don't stop his speed and strength! You were risking your like just trying to check on him!"

Skye looked down to the floor, avoiding Coulson's scathing glare, "But I just… I thought he would want something to eat."

"And another agent would've brought him food if he wanted it." Coulson ran his hand through his hair and lowered his voice, "Look, Skye, I know that you care for him and you want to make sure that he's going to be okay. But he's a major risk until the mind serum's completely out of his system and he can have a ten minute or more conversation without falling unconscious or  _that."_ he said, pointing back to the raging Ward. "He's losing his mind, Skye. And it's going to take it awhile for it to clear up.

Until then, I don't want you going to see him. Maybe if he asks for you and I can send you in with two guards since the inhibitors affect your powers as well." he continued. "If Ward ends up hurting you… I know it will create a bigger strain on his mental health. And that's something we don't need. This whole mess needs to be cleared up soon so we can figure out what to do with him next."

"But what are you going to do once he's sane again?" Skye questioned, looking Coulson firmly in the eyes. "Throw him back to the Vault?"

Coulson shrugged, "I honestly don't know anymore." he replied. "Sending him on his own way didn't work last time, but that's because Biogen caught him again before he could leave."

"Then try that again. I know that after all of this he'll want to be alone again." Skye stated. "But will you be willing to let him go on his way again? You definitely know by now that he has no more intentions of hurting us anymore."

Coulson sighed, sitting back down and turning his chair to where he could see the feed of Ward. Ward had now fallen unconscious again and guards and med agents were in the room tending to him. "If he can get through whatever the hell it is he's going through. Simmons has never seen anything like the serum that was used to break down his mind and thoughts, so she doesn't know how he'll recover." he explained. "Or  _if_ he'll recover. Fitz is working on finding any Biogen files on the serum to see if there's a reversal method."

Skye nodded, "When we were talking, he called himself a freak. Coulson, you know if he gets out of the effects of the serums there's still his mental issues. This self-hate might drive him to try something. And he said that he couldn't be killed. And if he tries… That might unleash that monster he's talking about. And what if it's worse than what's happening right now?"

"Then we'll deal with it. I imagine once he's out of this, he'll want to dash as fast as he can." Coulson replied with a sigh. "To be honest, Skye… I don't know what the hell is going to happen anymore. That man… Skye, I'm afraid to say this, but I'm going to have to."

"What the hell are you going at?" Skye asked, frowning. "Please don't tell me that you're going to try to find a way to kill him."

The Director took a short breath and shook his head, "Ward's a walking time bomb, and it's only a matter of time before he explodes, taking us all with him."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Keep the comments and kudos coming!


	18. Chapter Eighteen (Sure You Wanna Play It?)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skye and Simmons fight and Ward... He loses it.

(The Next Day)

"So, Jemma, how is he?" Skye asked, looking at Simmons who held a stack of files, which she guessed were all medical stats on Ward.

Simmons shook her head, "To be honest, I don't know. I'm surprised he's still even slightly in his right mind. Skye, he's going insane as the serum leaves his system. The other day when I checked, the percentage of serum in his system was about 70%. Now it's about 45%. It's draining fast, so hopefully this will all be over with when it's completely gone.

But, Skye, it's only going to get a whole lot worse before it gets better. I theorize that he'll get even more crazy and unstable before he's clear. Until then, stay as far away as you can from him." she continued. "He's suffering from violent hallucinations that further drive him crazy. He's violent then. Skye, I wouldn't put it past him to hurt you."

Skye shook her head and looked down, "What do you think would've happened if Biogen had finally drawn his blood to use?" she asked. "What hell would we be in now?"

Simmons flipped through the files in her hand, "Probably way worse than right now. Skye, honestly a psychotic Ward is better than dealing with an army of controlled gifteds. Ward will get through this and will probably return to a normal mental state. And then Coulson will do whatever he's going to do with him. Honestly, I don't care what Coulson does with Ward at this point, as long as he doesn't stay here."

Skye held her breath before she responded, "Do you think Coulson will let him go again?" she questioned.

The biochemist looked at her with an annoyed look on her face, clearly getting tired of the questions about Ward. "I don't know, Skye." she stressed. "And I frankly don't care. It's Ward we're talking about. I rather see him locked up for the rest of his life, but I know that that's not going to happen."

A muscle twitched in Skye's face, but she couldn't help Simmons' hatred of Ward. She still couldn't believe that the biochemist was helping along with everything. It was probably because Coulson had ordered it or something. At least it seemed that Coulson cared. The only ones that did was her, Lincoln, Coulson, and maybe Fitz. But she wasn't sure about Fitz.

"Jemma, don't you understand that I'm worried about him right?" Skye continued. "I'm afraid that he's either going to completely lose himself or find a way to kill himself. You don't have to be so harsh towards him."

Simmons' face fell, twisting into a frown, "You don't want me to be harsh, Skye? Don't you understand that this is  _Ward_ of all people? He's the bloody asshole that stabbed us all in the backs! There was a time when you were harsh to him! I'm not going to be nice to him just because he's hurting.

Maybe he doesn't want to hurt us anymore, but that doesn't give me a reason to like him. I detest him, Skye. I don't care if you're suddenly falling head over heels for him again. It doesn't change a single thing."

Skye's eyes widened, "I'm not falling in love with him again, Jemma!" she snapped. "He's just different towards me, that's all."

Simmons narrowed her eyes, "Oh is it? I see how you look at him. It's just like when you first got on the Bus before everything went to hell." she stated coldly. "Maybe it's some weird alien thing, I don't know. Hell, if that was the case, then Lincoln would have a thing with him as well. Oh wait, he does. He's friendly with him. And it's Lincoln of all people."

"Where the hell are you going with all of this?" Skye practically hissed. "Simmons, you're supposed to be my  _friend._ "

"Then why are you coddling over the enemy for God's sakes?!" Simmons exclaimed, throwing the files in her hands down. "He's a bloody psychopath! He's probably playing us, waiting to kill us at any moment!"

"He's not the enemy, Jemma!" Skye snapped. "He made that clear when he got Lincoln out of Biogen alive. There are bigger enemies out there than Ward. And just because he's some kind of Inhuman super soldier doesn't make him any worse. Maybe people change."

Simmons snorted, "You sure hear yourself talk, Skye. You're not making any sense whatsoever. Just a few weeks ago you hated Ward with all your guts. Again, it must be some weird alien thing."

"I am not an alien!" Skye screamed, the ground lurching beneath them. She took a breath and glared at Simmons, "You know what, Jemma? Don't talk to me until this thing's over. Unless you can talk without insulting me or Ward." she hissed, turning on her heels and leaving the lab.

Simmons stood there, immediately regretting what she had said. She had let her hatred of Ward get between her and her friend. She continued standing there, even when Fitz and Mack came in.

"Hey, Jemma, what's up with Skye?" Fitz asked.

"Yeah, she just stormed past us. And it looked as though she was crying." Mack added in. "Nothing happened with Ward, did it?"

Simmons looked down and shook her head, "No, Ward's fine as being in an insane state can be. It's me. I made a dire mistake."

* * *

(Elsewhere)

Ward's eyes snapped open as the room's door opened. He watched through clouded eyes as guards and med agents came in, the illusion of Garrett still heckling at him. The acid of the serum still burned strong, still making his mind a muddled, insane mess.

A guard stood at the door, as it closed behind him. The two med agents approached him, a tray of needles of vials in their hands. It was medicine to help him as he began to recover, but he didn't know it.

"We're just going to give you some medicine." a med agent explained. "So don't worry. We're not going to hurt you."

Ward heard all of this as warbled garbles, so he didn't understand what the agent had said. He tensed up as one of the agents grabbed his arm softly. His eyes widened as the other agent went to grab a vial and a needle.

It reminded him too much of Biogen. Vivid images of being cut on wide awake flashed through his head. The smell of blood and disinfectant filled his nostrils. The barks of the scientists echoed in his ears. A growl escaped his lips and with blinding speed, he grabbed the agent with the needle and threw him across the room before any of the guards could react.

He jumped up and punched the other med agent in the chest, sending him across the room as the tray of needles and vials crashed to the floor. The guards ran towards him, armed with ICERs. But they wouldn't work on Ward.

There were only four guards in the room, so it wouldn't even take a minute for Ward to deal with them. Or in this case, kill them. The sight of the needles had triggered too much in his brain and had caused the remnants of the serum to drive him mad.

He snarled as ICER bullets hit him, but the fire building up underneath his skin only burnt up the dendrotoxin as it entered his veins. Grabbing two of the guards, he slammed their heads together with a sickening crack of their helmets before slamming them to the floor.

The remaining two guards began to back off and one was able to run to the door as Ward grabbed the other and ripped his arm off, the sickening sound of bones and muscle ripping apart filling the air.

"God help me!" the one guard screamed, fumbling with the door. "Why does SHIELD keep these people?!"

The door opened as Ward grabbed him from behind and slung him across the room. Ward's eyes returned to the now-open door and he pushed it fully-open, the metal door slamming against the brick wall of the outside. He stepped out into the brightness of the hallway, shielding his eyes from the sunlight. His mind was still screaming, the acid still controlling him.

The all-too-familiar memories of the experiments had triggered some newfound rage and insanity inside of him. And there was no telling to what he was going to do next. He just wanted to get out, and that's what exactly he was going to do now. No matter the cost.

He began to walk slowly down the hallway, not really knowing where he was at, but everything screaming at him to fight his way out. His only thought was that he was back at Biogen. He forgot that he was back at SHIELD. He thought it had been Biogen scientists trying to inject him with something else, not SHIELD.

"Kill… Them…" he growled. "I want out. I want out. Let me out."

His brute-like form lumbered down the brick-laden hallways, ready to strike-out at the next person that crossed his path. And it didn't matter if it was one of the team. Because in his mind, SHIELD and Biogen were the same thing.

* * *

(Coulson's Office)

Coulson happened to look up at the monitors surveying the room that held Ward when he knew everything was about to go to absolute hell. He stood from his chair so fast, that it fell over with a thud. The monitor showed bodies lying on the floor of the room, even what seemed to be a dismembered arm and the door was wide open. But there was no Ward to be seen.

"Dammit! This is bad! Real bad! Damn! Damn! Damn!" Coulson spat.

"What's the matter?" May asked, sticking her head into the room.

"Ward got out. Attacked the med agents and guards that were in the room to administer medicine to him. Most likely killed them." Coulson tried to explain. "He's out, somewhere in the building. Probably in one of his episodes. Order all agents to be on high alert. I'm going to sound the alarm."

May's eyes widened at Coulson's response, but she nodded and disappeared down the hallway.

Coulson's eyes quickly returned to the screens, looking at the carnage again. "Damn it, Ward. You just can't let them give you medicine?" he mumbled, returning his sight to his desk. "We're not going to hurt you."

He took a breath as he activated the base's alarm system. "I'm sorry for this, Ward." he whispered. "But I can't let this, well, you get out of hand. I know that we can't kill you, but we have to do something to stop you. Please, just don't kill any more of my agents, we can help you."

And Coulson just knew that everything was going to go to hell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Keep the comments kudos coming!


	19. Chapter Nineteen (Ashes Fell Like Snow)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skye and Lincoln confront Ward.

Skye tensed up as soon as she heard the alarm ring out. She and Lincoln had been talking, mainly between what had happened between her and Simmons just an hour ago. Even though the alarm took her by surprise, she knew the one thing that it could mean.

Ward was out.

She stood up right as Lincoln looked at the door. He looked back at her with fear in his eyes, "This isn't what I think it is, is it?" he asked. "Please tell me that it isn't."

Skye gulped and began for the door, Lincoln jogging up to catch up with her, "The only thing that that could mean is that Ward got out. And he's in one of his episodes. We haven't dealt with Hydra in a while and I don't know who else it could be." she explained as they ran out of the room. "We need to get to him and calm him down before Coulson ends up having to do something or Ward gets too way out of hand."

Lincoln shook his head, "We've seen his episodes, Skye. We know that they're bad. This one has to be huge if he managed to get out." he continued. "Or someone was in there and it caused him to freak."

Skye's face fell as they still ran, "The med agents. Med agents come in periodically to check on him. Normally, Grant's asleep or he's still in his right mind. Something that they were doing had to trigger an episode."

"Oh, great. Then he's probably really raging." Lincoln stressed, fear starting to inch its way into his voice. "But how do we stop him? No, wait. Where do we find him?" he asked.

The two stopped suddenly as SHIELD guards rushed past them, clearly running away from something. Skye tensed up and pointed down the hallway, in the direction that the agents had come. The smell of smoke was starting to fill the air. And that could only mean one thing.

"Guess there's your answer." Skye stated.

"Why did it have to be answered so freaking fast?" Lincoln mumbled as they started to walk towards the source of whatever had scared the hell out of the SHIELD agents.

Skye only shrugged as they went slowly and quietly, unsure of what they would meet around the corner. They stopped at the corner and remained there, listening for any signs of Ward. And they got their signs.

"Get away from me! Let me go! Let me go!"

Lincoln's eyes widened as they drifted over to Skye, "Yeah, he sounds like he's lost it. I'd rather not confront him and be melted to nothing."

"And if we don't try to stop him, this whole base will end up in flames." Skye responded. "Or Coulson will end up finding some way to kill Grant."

Lincoln scoffed and peeked around the corner, freezing as he saw Ward standing in the middle of the hall, flames burning off his arms. He returned his gaze to Skye, "The effects of the inhibitors have completely worn off on him." he stated.

"Flames?" Skye asked.

He nodded, "As bright as they can be, and probably as hot as hell."

"That's probably why Biogen called him Hellfire. But I wouldn't go calling him that anytime soon. It'll probably set him off." Skye replied. "Go slowly and be prepared to fight. Don't do anything that could kill him. If you shock him, do it to the point where it will knock him out, not stop his heart or anything. And there's too much around us for me to make an earthquake. I can fight him back with a shockwave, try to knock him out with one or something."

Lincoln nodded slightly, "And if Coulson or the others show up?" he asked.

"Tell them to stay back. I don't know what's running through Grant's head right now, be he probably won't hesitate to kill them."

"Great."

Skye looked back around the corner, "I'm going in."

"Skye, wait." Lincoln began, but Skye had already gone towards Ward. He held his breath and came out from around the corner to see Skye running towards the raging Ward, waiving her hands at him.

"Grant, stop it!" she screamed. "We're not going to hurt you!"

Ward spun around as he heard Skye scream out at him. He snarled at her but then tensed up, something wasn't right here. Skye? Why was Skye here? He thought that Biogen had him…

"Grant, please!" Skye continued, stopping a few feet away from him. "Calm down before you do something that you regret. You can stop this."

Ward blinked, the flames still burning off of his arms. Several different things roared through his head.

_"_ _Biogen… Tricking me… Not Skye… Not Skye…"_

Ward cocked his head, a look of confusion temporarily replacing his enraged expression. "Not Skye…" he muttered. "Trick… Not real… All Biogen…"

Skye frowned, quickly looking back to Lincoln before returning to Ward, "Biogen?" she asked. She shook her head, "Grant, this is a SHIELD base. You're far away from Biogen. They're not going to hurt you. It's me, Skye. Lincoln's here too. Coulson and the others are on their way."

Ward's confusion quickly returned to rage, "All the same!" he screeched, barreling towards Skye.

Skye's eyes widened and she was able to dodge to the side just in time as Ward went by.  _"Damn, he's fast._ " Skye thought.  _"Too fast. How can we deal with him if he can probably dodge everything we throw at him?"_

"Skye!" Lincoln exclaimed.

"Stay there!" Skye yelled back. "Try to surround him! If you can knock him out, try to break him out of it!"

"And how the hell do I do that?!"

"I don't know!"

Skye looked back to Ward, whose eyes kept darting between her and Lincoln. The man's body was tense and almost looked shaky. Skye's eyes widened as she realized what was going on. Ward was trying to hold himself back. The remnants of the serum were still screaming him to kill everyone.

Ward's eyes finally rested on Lincoln, he snarled and held out his hand towards the other Inhuman. Lincoln's eye widened and he dropped to the ground as soon as a fireball came screaming his way. He tried to dodge to the side, but Ward was way too fast.

The currently-deranged Inhuman shot out towards him, letting the flames die from his arm, and knocked into Lincoln. Pain shot all throughout Lincoln's body, it felt as though a ton of bricks had rammed into him. Ward snarled and got on top of Lincoln, pinning his arms down so he couldn't get up. His flame-filled eyes drilled into Lincoln's.

"Ward…" Lincoln said softly. "What the hell are you doing?"

Ward snarled. "You'll… Kill me… Not if… I kill you first!" He went to grab Lincoln by the throat, but the man sent a massive shock through him, causing him to be sent back a few feet.

Lincoln shot to his feet. "We're not going to kill you!" he yelled. "We just want you to stop! You're safe here!"

Ward rose to his feet, looming over Skye and Lincoln. "I don't… Know where I am…" he growled.

He tensed up as he felt someone touch his arm. He hissed and looked down to see Skye holding his arm. Skye's eyes trailed over the red veins twisting up and down his bare skin. But they weren't as dark as they had been. The serum was fading. Ward's rage was burning it out.

"Grant," she began. "This is Coulson's main base. You've been here for a few days. We've been trying to get the mind serum out of your system and get your thinking back to normal. We're not trying to hurt you, we're trying to help you."

"Skye," Lincoln warned, but Skye ignored him.

"Grant, calm down. Please. You're going to do something that you're going to regret later when you've realized what you've done."

Ward snarled, "You don't tell me what to do!" he screeched, pushing Skye away. His brute strength caused her to fly back a few feet, but she was able to catch herself before she hit the wall or anything.

Skye took a breath and quickly nodded towards Lincoln before looking back at Ward. She knew what to do. It was tricky and it was possible that it could only make things worse, but it was a risk worth taking. Ward was strong, he would live.

"I'm sorry, Grant. Please forgive me if you remember any of this." she whispered.

Ward came barreling towards her, the fire reignited. "You will die!" he screamed.

Skye jumped back, thrusting her hand out towards Ward and sending a massive shockwave out towards him. The blast hit him square in the chest and sent him flying back into the wall. He hit it with a sickening crack, his body causing a massive Ward-shaped hole in the wall.

The flames dissipated off of him as he slumped over. Skye's heart skipped a beat, afraid that she had gone overboard. She ran over to him and looked at Lincoln, "Go get Coulson!" she exclaimed. "Somebody at least! I don't know where the hell they are! They're probably hiding!"

Lincoln nodded quickly and spun around, taking off down the hallway.

Skye's gaze returned to Ward and the massive hole his body had made. She sighed, she could feel the vibrations of his pulse, and it was still strong. "How freaking indestructible are you?" she muttered. "It just knocked you out. That would've killed Lincoln."

She tensed up as Ward's face twitched. She watched as the red veins disappeared as his eyes opened. And to her relief, they were their normal whiskey-brown. He struggled to get up, but Skye put a hand against his chest.

"Don't move until someone else gets here." she said.

He blinked, realizing what was going on. His face fell, "Oh God, please tell me that I didn't." he practically pleaded.

Skye had to nod. "You got out of your room. I don't know what happened, but I imagine that Coulson does." she replied. "Lincoln and I… We had to stop you. More like I had to send you flying into the wall. Grant, do you remember what happened?" she asked.

Ward looked down, "I think med agents came into the room. They had a set of needles and I saw them. Then it's black. I think the needles caused me to snap. Reminded me of Biogen…"

"You thought that you were still in their captivity." Skye continued. "You totally forgot that you were at a SHIELD base."

Ward's face paled and he looked down again, "Did I hurt anyone?" he asked quietly. "D-Did I hurt you?"

Skye shook her head, "You didn't hurt me, but I don't know about the med agents though." she replied. "Grant, it's not your fault."

"But I could've tried to fight back against the serum, right?" he asked sharply. "No… I couldn't. It's too strong. It controls me."

He looked up as Skye squeezed his hand, "What are you doing?" he asked.

Skye shrugged, "I thought it would help."

"I thought you were afraid of me. You sure took off away from me the other day." Ward began. "You left me alone when I didn't want to be…"

Skye swallowed. "Grant, I didn't know what was going to happen. And as soon as I got out of there… You went completely ballistic. You were fighting absolutely nothing."

"Garrett." Ward muttered.

"What?"

"Garrett. I've been hallucinating him. I try to tell myself that it's not real, but I snap every time. It feels so real, Skye. The things he says to me. It's why I snap a lot of times."

Skye's face fell, "Grant, he's gone. He's been dead for over a year. Ignore the illusion, it'll go away. Simmons…" She tensed up, remembering their fight. "She says the serum will be out of your system soon and you'll be well."

She stood up and held her hand out to Ward, "And maybe that episode was the final one." she continued. "Maybe this is all over."

Ward didn't respond, but took Skye's hand. He stood up, still towering over her. He looked to see Coulson coming into view, along with Lincoln, Hunter, May, and Bobbi. They all had their guns drawn and pointed at him.

Ward held his hands up, "I'm fine. Well, I think I am. I-I don't know what I am anymore." he stated. His eyes were weak and he looked sick. But he was sick, both physically and mentally.

Coulson stepped forward, surveying the scene. His eyes stopped briefly on the hole in the wall before returning to Ward. He noted the lack of red veins lacing up and down his bare skin and the lack of flame-filled eyes. He was back to normal, for now.

The Director gulped before speaking to the Inhuman. "Well, you can't go back to the room right now, we're still cleaning that up. Let's get you to the lab and see where you stand. I don't want any more incidents." His demeanor was cold and harsh. Coulson knew that Ward couldn't stop the episodes, but that didn't stop him from feeling hate and fear towards him.

Coulson turned around and started to walk away, followed by May, Hunter, and Bobbi. Lincoln stayed and returned to Skye and Ward.

"Coulson's not too happy right now." he stated. "He lost three guards and two med agents today. But I really don't think he's blaming you." He looked up at Ward.

Ward looked down and didn't respond. He began to walk off, "Let's just get to the damn lab." he muttered. "I want to leave and be alone as soon as I can."

Skye and Lincoln briefly looked at each other in worry before catching up to the flame-fueled Inhuman.

Ward wasn't going to get his solitude for a while.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Keep the comments and kudos coming!


	20. Chapter Twenty (The Darkest Part Of Me)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ward's got more problems than the serum.

(Sometime Later)

Ward sat on the lab examining table, avoiding the stares of the team. Hunter, Bobbi, and May acted as guards, they were to kill him if he snapped or anything of the sort. Skye, Lincoln, and Coulson were the only ones that really interacted with him. Simmons was only there to run the blood tests.

Coulson was the first one to speak up after Simmons had run Ward's blood, "So, is he clean?" he asked, looking at the biochemist.

"If you're talking about the serum, then yes. The serum's completely gone out of his system. The last episode must've burnt the remaining traces of it out of his blood. As for other things, he's far from clean." Simmons spoke harsh and cold, not looking at Ward.

Ward looked down, knowing that Simmons' words were an insult to him. But he refrained from saying anything.

"Any residual effects?" Coulson continued, pinching the bridge of his nose with his one hand.

"Maybe some lingering psychological issues. But not as bad as with the serum burning through his veins." Simmons responded. "So you could say that he's okay." She began to walk out of the room along with Fitz, "But I still wouldn't trust him."

Ward clenched his fists and continued to look down. He heard as Hunter, Bobbi, Mack, and May left the lab, leaving only him, Coulson, Skye, and Lincoln in the room. He looked up to the Director. "So, where does that leave me now?" he asked. "Are you just going to lock me up again?"

Coulson sighed and shook his head, "No, I won't do that." he replied, running his one hand through his hair. Ward frowned at this, just noticing that Coulson now had one hand. But he didn't say anything. "I have a room prepared for you. There are clothes and hygiene supplies there that should be good for you. But there are guards stationed nearby that will respond in case of another episode.

You can stay there until I can decide what to do with you. And I imagine whatever decision I make will be fought against." The Director continued. "I'll make sure that you are safe in there. I promise that no one will try to hurt you while you're in this building."

"So that means the others are still out for my head, right?" Ward asked, standing up. "They'll do anything to see me dead in a grave. But I can't be killed without the situation getting worse than my episodes." He shook his head and laughed slightly, "There's always going to be someone on my ass."

"I promise, Ward, no one is going to hurt you. They rather stay away from you right now." Coulson responded. "You'll be fine. My plan is for you to stay here a few more days, just for me to make sure that you're good, and you can leave when you want to."

Ward raised an eyebrow, "Really? You're actually going to let me go free?" he asked.

Coulson shrugged, "I have no reason to believe that you're going to kill us." he responded. "You just have to keep your promise from before. That you'll stay to yourself and will leave us alone."

"And you remember that?" Ward questioned, surprised that Coulson remembered that from what seemed like a long time ago.

"Yes, I do." Coulson nodded. "Do you want to go to your room now?" he asked.

Ward nodded, looking briefly at Skye and Lincoln. "Yes. I need some time to myself without going berserk or anything like that." he replied.

Coulson smiled slightly, "Then come on, before I change my mind."

* * *

(Two Hours Later)

Ward slipped a pair of jeans on that was left in the drawers of his room for him. To his disbelief, they fit. He didn't want to know how whoever got these clothes knew his size now, but he shrugged it off. He then put on the pair of boots left for them and laced them up. He went to put on a shirt, but a voice at the door stopped him.

"You know, Grant, you should really keep your door closed when you're putting on clothes. Fitz might see it."

Ward froze up and blushed, turning around to see Skye coming into the room, "S-Skye, how long have you been there?" he asked.

"Relax, I just walked up." she replied, sitting on the edge of his bed. "And you don't have to be so flustered about having your shirt off. Most of us have seen you without your shirt on. Just be glad that Lincoln's off talking to Simmons."

Ward rolled his eyes and placed the shirt down, "You should give more warning before the next time you come in." he said.

"To be an enhanced Inhuman, you have poor perceptions." Skye stated. She looked up and down his bare torso, admiring his muscles. His veins popped out in his biceps and something else stood out on his chest. Skye's eyes landed on it and she frowned.

It was a jagged, white scar going from right between his collarbone to about an inch above his belly button. It stood out like a ghost on his somewhat tan skin.

"What's that?" Skye asked, pointing at his chest. "I've never seen that before."

Ward looked down to his chest and frowned, "Oh, that? It's nothing. Just a reminder of hell." he replied weakly.

"Biogen?"

He nodded before going on. "They thought that it would be fun to cut me open right after they recaptured me. There really was no reason for it, other than to torture me. Wanted to see my insides. I was awake the entire time. Screamed while they poked inside of me.

It couldn't heal up like it's supposed to with it like that. So it took a few painful days for it to heal up like this. That's why there's such a nasty scar. It never healed right."

Skye's face fell, "Oh, Grant…"

Ward looked down right after slipping on the black t-shirt, "Why are you here anyways, Skye?" he asked. "Didn't you hear that I want to be alone?"

"I just wanted to check on you, that's all."

Ward ran his hands through his hair. Skye noticed that he must've had just gotten out of the shower. His hair was still wet and stuck to his forehead.

"Skye, you don't understand why I want to be alone, do you?" he asked. "It's so I don't end up hurting anyone. My serum-induced episodes may be over, but I have other episodes. Rage mostly. I get angry easily and I snap just like that.

Happened to someone Biogen locked up with me. He pissed me off and I snapped, cracked his head against the wall and killed him. The serum being out of my system isn't going to stop another episode when I have a rage problem that controls me. My powers don't help." Ward continued. "It's better for me to be alone. I need to get out of here before I hurt Coulson, Fitzsimmons, or even Lincoln. And especially you. Skye, I don't want to be here."

Skye's face fell and she stood up, "Grant, you don't have to be like that." she said. "I know that that won't happen."

A muscle twitched in Ward's face. He turned around and leaned up against the dresser, starting to feel sick. He knew that something was building, but he couldn't get away from Skye. "And what happens if it does?" he asked. "Someone's going to get killed and Coulson will find a way to kill me. Either crush my heart or chop off my head. That's about the only things that will probably kill me. Skye, I don't need to be around anyone anymore."

"Grant, there's got to be some way to help control your rage or whatever." Skye went on. "I imagine Coulson can find something and you'll be good. Then you won't have to worry about anything. Maybe Lincoln can help, I know that Simmons won't. Well, unless Coulson makes her. But I'm not,"

Skye was cut off as a massive crack sounded from the dresser. She realized that Ward had slammed his fist into the wood and had broken it. And she noticed that he was trembling. She started to back away.

"Shut the hell up, Skye!" Ward hissed, spinning around. The flames were burning in his eyes. "Don't you ever stop talking?! That's all you ever do! It's either Coulson this or Coulson that. Or some other crap you're spewing. Don't you ever just freaking shut up?!"

Skye gulped, holding her hands up, "Grant, I was just,"

"You don't get it! Nothing can help me!" Ward growled, his face full of sudden rage. "You can't fix me!"

Skye's eyes grew wide in fear. This was just like the Berserker incident from what seemed like forever ago. "Grant, just calm down."

Ward snarled and he stepped forward, "You don't tell me what to do." he hissed. "Get the hell out of here and leave me the hell alone."

"Grant," Skye said, as calm as she could. "Please."

Ward growled again and grabbed her wrist, "Are you not understanding a damn word I am saying?!" he hissed. "Get the hell out of here."

Skye tried not to scream out as she felt her skin start to burn from the heat of Ward's hand. His grip wasn't that strong, but the heat was. "Ward, you're hurting me. Let go."

Blinking, Ward realized what he was doing. He looked to Skye's wrist and quickly dropped it, the fire fading from his eyes. He backed away, holding his hands up and shaking his head. Fear and regret had replaced the rage in his face, "Oh God, oh God. I'm sorry… I'm so sorry. I-I didn't mean to… I couldn't… I couldn't…"

His eyes stayed locked on Skye's wrist, her skin an angry, bubbling red from the burn. He had hurt her. The one thing he was trying not to do.

Skye gingerly held her wrist, "That… That wasn't you."

"No, Skye, that was all me. There's no serum controlling me this time." Ward looked back to the burn he had caused. "I'm sorry… I can't be around you anymore." He ran out of the room, leaving Skye standing there holding her wrist.

Skye's stomach churned, realizing how broken Ward was. He was trying his best to keep himself in line so no other incidents would occur. But he had let himself snap so easily, and he had hurt her in the process. Ward's promise to himself to protect Skye had been broken, by himself.

And she knew that he would find some way to get out of the base as fast as he could. Ward didn't want to be around anyone anymore. He just wanted to be alone. And Skye was afraid that she would never see him again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Keep the comments and kudos coming!


	21. Chapter Twenty-One (Am I the Darkness?)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ward tells Skye that he's planning on leaving soon.

(Sometime Later)

Skye walked the halls of the base, trying to find Ward after he had run off. She gripped her now-bandaged wrist as the burn that Ward had caused still stung. Despite her and Simmons' slight feud from earlier, Simmons had helped take care of the burn, but her harsh words about Ward still lingered in Skye's mind:

_"_ _Skye, you need to stay away from him until he leaves for good. He's a danger and a liability. And it's not just because he's Ward. Underneath that smile he gives you every time he sees you is a monster waiting to strike._

_Next time, it won't just be a burn on the wrist. He'll set you aflame and leave you for dead. I don't care what Coulson thinks about him now. You need to stay the hell away from him. He's a monster."_

Skye sighed and continued down the hall, only stopping when she heard something stirring in the kitchen ahead. She knew that no one was around here. Fitz and Mack were with Simmons, May was with Coulson, Hunter and Bobbi were in the gym, and Lincoln… Well, she didn't know where Lincoln was.

She frowned and walked towards the kitchen. She stopped right outside of it and only stuck her head in. Sighing in relief, Skye found that it was Ward fooling around with some food. "Grant." she said, walking in.

Ward froze up and dropped the butter knife that was in his hand. It clattered to the concrete floor as he spun around. "S-Skye." he stammered. "What are you doing here?"

"One, I'm an agent of SHIELD. Two, I was worried about you." Skye said, coming closer. "What are you doing in here? How did you even know where the kitchen was anyways?"

"I was hungry and Coulson showed me earlier." Ward replied, picking up a sandwich off of the counter. He looked down briefly before looking back to Skye, "Why are you in here?" he repeated. "After… After what happened earlier."

Skye sighed and sat down at one of the bar stools, "Because I knew that you couldn't help it." she began. "I knew that whatever that was, it wasn't you. It was far from you."

Ward shook his head and laughed slightly, "If you only knew. Skye, that was me. It's not like the Hulk or anything. It's all me, even through all of that anger. It's me." he explained, sitting at a bar stool two stools over from Skye. "Skye, I can't even begin to explain just how sorry I am. I broke the promise that I made myself the moment I stepped on that jet."

Frowning, Skye looked at Ward, "What do you mean?" she asked. "What promise?"

Ward smiled slightly, "To not hurt you. But I let my anger get the best of me and I did so. I was lucky that it was just a burn. I don't know what came over me."

Skye nodded, "I talked to Simmons while she was tending to my burn. She says that there's a possibility that there are still traces of the serum in your blood that tests can't detects. It's possible that when something like anger or whatnot comes over you, it'll trigger another episode with those traces. It'll happen until the traces are completely gone."

Ward raised an eyebrow, "Simmons actually said something helpful about me?" he asked.

"No, not really. Then she said a few choice things, but I won't mention them at the moment." Skye responded, shaking her head.

"What did she say?"

"Grant, I don't think you would want to know."

"Just go ahead and say it, Skye. I'd like to know what people are saying about me behind my back."

Skye took a sharp breath, "She told me to stay away from you until you leave. Apparently you're 'dangerous' and a 'liability'. And that underneath that smile, there's a monster waiting to kill me. She pretty much said that you are a monster." she explained.

Ward's face fell, "And that's exactly why I intend to leave here as soon as I can." he responded. "Simmons is right, I am a monster. There's no telling what will happen the next time I snap. I don't want to hurt anyone anymore, Skye. I've done enough of that.

There's so much blood on my hands. So much that I can't even begin to wash it off. I've killed in the name of SHIELD, the name of Garrett and Hydra, and even in my own name. And then Biogen. I don't want to do it anymore. It loses it's luster." Ward's face fell and pain filled his eyes, "I'm sorry, Skye, for everything that I've ever done to you guys."

Skye looked to the side, taking in what Ward had said. She returned her gaze to the Inhuman, "What… What do you plan on doing from here on?" she asked.

Ward nodded, knowing that Skye most likely had accepted his apology, but just didn't want to say. "Leave here, go back to what I was doing before Biogen got me." he began. "Be to myself where I can't hurt anyone. And maybe, if Coulson allows it, I'll come back eventually. But when I know that my anger or whatever won't be a barrier between me and you guys." He sighed, "Skye, I just need some actual time to myself. I never got that.

I ended up being captured and turned into an even bigger freak than I already was. Being pyrokinetic is bad enough. Being an Inhuman super soldier is something else entirely." he continued. "I need some time to cope and deal with what's happened to me in the past few months. Time where I'm just by myself."

"I'm sure that Coulson will probably welcome you back, if you don't mess something up while you're 'by yourself'." Skye replied with a slight smile. "I know Lincoln will. Fitz.. Well, I don't know what's going on with him."

Ward shook his head, "And what about Morse or Hunter? Agent Mackenzie? Hell, what about May?" he asked. "What about them? You know that I'm comparable to the Devil in their books. And you know, I probably am the Devil. I just don't know it." he went on. He sighed and picked up his sandwich again, taking a bite out of it. He swallowed and shook his head again, "I'm better off alone than being here."

"You have me."

Ward raised an eyebrow, "And you actually like me again? After all the hell that's happened?" he asked. "I don't freaking believe it."

Skye shrugged, "Whatever. I guess things change." she said. "When are you planning to leave?"

"As soon as Coulson give me the thumbs-up, I'm out of here."

"You know that Coulson can only give you one thumb up, right?" Skye asked.

Ward frowned, "What happened to his hand anyways? I didn't think that it would be right to ask."

"Caught a Terrigen Crystal during the fight with the Inhuman to keep it from bursting. Started to turn his arm to stone and apparently Mack had to chop it off to save him." Skye explained.

Ward winced, "Damn." he stated. "I would've thought someone ripped it off or something. I don't know."

"Well, it wasn't." Skye said.

Silence fell between the two as Ward finished eating his sandwich. Skye watched as he got up and returned to the fridge.

"I'm still hungry, you want something?" he asked.

Skye shook her head, "No, I'm good." she replied. "But, Grant, promise me one thing though."

"What?" Ward asked as he looked through the fridge. "What do I need to promise now?"

"That, when you do leave, that you just won't suddenly disappear. At least say bye before you leave."

Ward froze up and gulped. He knew that he wouldn't be able to do so. He couldn't handle goodbyes. "You know that I don't do goodbyes, right?" he questioned.

"Yeah, but knowing you…" Skye sighed, "I'll wake up tomorrow and you'll be gone. At least say something to me before you go. Promise?" she asked.

Ward took a breath and nodded, even though he couldn't see Skye, "Yeah, sure." he mumbled. "I guess."

* * *

(Later)

"So, he's going to be leaving soon?" Lincoln asked, sitting down on the couch in the common room.

Skye shrugged, "I really don't know, but how he worded it sounded like he was." she replied. "So I assume it'll be within the next two days or so."

"He's really running out on us, isn't he? I mean, he just got decently better and now he's wanting to split. What's up with that?"

"Something about still wanting to be alone so he can't hurt anyone." Skye responded. "So he can learn to control his anger or something. I mean I understand what he's saying. He never got the solitude he wanted after going through Terrigenesis and all. Biogen pretty much immediately snatched him up and dragged him through hell."

Lincoln sighed, "I'm surprised that he survived all of that. Hell, he seemed so selfish for his reasoning of keeping me alive. I'm thankful though, but it just seemed so weird."

"He thought that keeping you alive would save his ass in the end. And maybe it did. And I do think that he did warm up to you though." Skye laughed. "It's kind of funny."

"What's funny?"

Skye and Lincoln turned to see Ward walking into the room. He still wore the same clothes from earlier, but his hair was now shorter and he was also clean-shaven.

"Uh, nothing." Skye responded. "When did you shave?"

"Just now. I decided to get rid of the beard for a while." Ward responded, coming over and sitting down in one of the chairs.

"Why? I liked it."

Ward narrowed his eyes, "And maybe I didn't?"

"Whatever. What are you doing in here anyways?" Skye asked.

Ward shrugged, "You're the only ones that will talk to me other than Coulson, and I don't want to talk to him. And it's strange being in my room by myself."

"And you're being sociable?"

"Watch it." Ward hissed, narrowing his eyes. "I'll leave right now if you're not careful."

Skye looked over to Lincoln and laughed. She liked how it was now, but she knew that it wouldn't last. Ward would leave the first chance he got.

And it would be like how it was just over a month ago.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Keep the comments and kudos coming!


	22. Chapter Twenty-Two (Like It Was All a Dream)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ward leaves without really telling anyone.

(Two Days Later)

Coulson knew that it was coming, but it still pretty much took him by surprise. "So, you're leaving?" he asked, looking at Ward who was on the other side of his desk. "Now?"

Ward nodded, shifting his feet slightly, "Pretty much, sir." he responded. "I'd like to get going as soon as possible."

"Did you even tell anyone else?" Coulson asked.

"No, I didn't." Ward stated, shaking his head in response. "I'm not all that great at goodbyes and I didn't want to make it awkward or anything. And Skye and Lincoln are the only ones that care. No one else does, except maybe you. Everyone else would rather see me dead."

Coulson sighed and shook his head, "I knew that they wouldn't when I decided to have you brought back here. But leaving you there with Biogen was the biggest threat of all. If they even managed to even get a drop of your blood…." He shook his head again, "We would be dealing with hell right now. Think about it, Grant. An army of artificially-created gifteds, all pretty much created from you."

Ward frowned, "That actually sounds really creepy." he replied. "Sounds like a bad horror movie or something."

"Exactly. And there's no telling what they could've been able to do. Either they would've all been pyrokinetic or have random powers, we still don't know." Coulson began to explain. "Even though bringing you back here was a risk, it was a whole lot better than leaving you there. Despite a few, well,  _complications_ , everything turned out okay."

Ward's face fell and he looked to the floor, almost in shame. "Sir, I can't even begin to explain just how sorry I am for all of that." he began. "It's just,"

"You couldn't help it, Grant." Coulson said, cutting Ward off. "And even your episode the other day with Skye. You couldn't help any of it. We're just lucky that not a lot of people got hurt."

"But those guards… And the med agents…"

"Grant, not your fault. You couldn't help it." Coulson repeated. "You're not at fault, believe it or not. You had too much going on inside of you."

Ward scratched at his neck, "I know that , sir. It's just that I feel like I let it all happen. I feel like I let Biogen take me. I feel like I let them experiment on me."

Coulson shook his head, "They overpowered you. You couldn't fight back, even with your pyrokinesis. You didn't let any of it happen."

"And all I wanted was to be alone." Ward continued. "I just wanted to be by myself to cope with my powers, now I'm even more different than I was four months ago."

"You can do that now, though. Isn't that what you want to do?" Coulson asked. "Return to your life and be to yourself?"

Ward nodded, "Yes, sir, it is. It just feels so weird leaving like this."

Coulson held his hand up, "If you're worrying about us, don't." he interrupted. "You don't have to. We'll be fine. Go do what you're wanting to do. I'm letting you. Well, as long as you keep your promise. Keep to yourself and don't bother us. Meaning, stay out of trouble and don't return to Hydra."

Fire sparked in Ward's eyes, a sign of amusement, "You don't have to worry that, Coulson. I don't intend on it."

Coulson nodded, suppressing a smile, "Good to hear it. You have everything you need, right?" he asked.

"Yes. I've got the clothes you gave me. And hopefully the apartment I'm returning to still has everything. Food's probably gone bad, but I'll deal with that." Ward responded. "And I've got plenty of drop boxes with money…"

Coulson continued to nod, "Good. And you know…" He took a breath, unsure if he wanted to say it or not. "And you know that you're welcome back whenever you want to, right?" he asked.

Ward was unprepared for that question. He didn't think that he would actually be welcomed back if he decided so. "I guess so, sir. But it'll be a while though." he stated. "Need to get a few things in order before I do so. Yeah, it'll be a while before you hear from me again."

And of course, Coulson nodded again, "Take your time, Grant." he said. "Do what you have to do." Coulson laughed slightly, "I know that Skye would be ecstatic to see you come back.

Look, things are rough now, but I see the relations improving. Fitz is a bit friendlier with you. Simmons has gotten a little better, and so has May. Mack, I'm not quite sure. Well, Hunter and Morse still don't like you, but that's expected."

Ward sighed, "I know that it's like that. They'll never get that I'm sorry and I do regret the things that I did. But it was all too much. Something that can never be forgiven."

"Just give it some time, Grant. But, go. Go before Skye catches up with you." Coulson stated. "Stay out of trouble."

Ward nodded, "I will. Thank you, sir. For actually not giving up on me."

"I almost did there for a while when you got really bad there for a few days." Coulson admitted. "But at least I didn't. Go ahead."

Ward nodded again, turning around and not saying anything else. Coulson watched as the Inhuman leave. He smiled slightly, knowing that he would see him again sooner or later.

Ward wouldn't be gone forever.

* * *

(Sometime Later)

Skye walked the halls of the base, trying to find Ward. She had asked just about everyone if they had seen him or not, and so far no one had. She would've asked Coulson, but she couldn't find him either.

An uneasy feeling settled in the bottom of her stomach. She knew one of the possible meanings behind Ward's absence. He had probably gone on and left them, without even telling her. She knew that Ward wasn't the type to say goodbye, but he could've at least had said something to her.

She shook her head and headed to the room where Ward had been staying, hoping that she could find something there. "Come on, Grant. Where are you?" Skye muttered to herself as she stepped inside the small room.

Everything was neat inside of it, almost too neat. The bed was made-up almost perfectly and nothing was lying around. Almost like no one was staying in here. Something tugged at her stomach as she continued to look around.

She looked in the dresser, finding the drawers void of clothes. That pretty much confirmed her suspicions. Ward had left without saying a single word. "Dammit, Grant. Can't you at least say something to me?" Skye whispered.

Her eyes swept the room again, resting on something that was placed on the bedside table. She frowned and walked over to the table. It was a note, scribbled on a piece of paper in Ward's messy handwriting. Skye smiled slightly before picking it up and reading it.

_"_ _Skye, I'm sorry for leaving so abruptly, but I felt like saying something would be too awkward. I'm going back to my own life for a while. Hopefully this time it'll work out and I won't be kidnapped and turned into an even bigger monster. Coulson already said that I was welcomed to come back anytime I felt like doing so, but that will be awhile. Or maybe, if you feel like it's the right time, we can possibly talk or something. I hope the number still works. But wait awhile, but I imagine that you'll know when it's the right time._

_-Grant"_

A string of numbers was written on the bottom, which was probably a number for some phone Ward had somewhere. It wasn't the goodbye she was hoping for, but it was better than nothing. Anything was better than nothing with it coming from Ward.

Skye folded up the note and put in her pocket, knowing that she would need it later. She figured that she would give Ward plenty of time to himself before attempting to contact him.

She turned around to leave, jumping back to see Lincoln standing in the doorway.

Lincoln laughed, "For a spy, you sure are jumpy." He raised an eyebrow, "What's going on? You were smiling at that piece of paper for too long, and I've been standing here for a little while."

"Grant left. His only goodbye was a piece of paper." Skye responded. "It's better than nothing though."

Lincoln shrugged, "Sounds like him. But I didn't think that he would leave so damn soon after getting better."

"Well, he wanted to get out of here and back to being alone as soon as he can. But I think he may come back someday, I don't know when though." Skye continued, walking out into the hallway with Lincoln. "Told me to contact him when I felt like the time was right."

"And when's that?" Lincoln asked.

Skye sighed, looking at the Inhuman, "I don't know. Honestly, I really don't know." she responded. "But I guess Grant's right, I'll know when the time's right…" She trailed off for a while before continuing. "But honestly, Lincoln…" She shook her head, "It feels like it was all a dream, like it really didn't happen."

He shrugged, "I don't know, it does seem weird in retrospect though." he stated. "Very weird."

Skye smiled slightly, "Well, I guess I'll know just how real it was when I do see him again. Whenever that is."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Keep the comment and kudos coming! (Come on guys, comment!)


	23. Chapter Twenty-Three (Can We Start Again?)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One year later, Skye and Ward meet again.

(Just Over a Year Later)

Skye stood outside of a small bar, looking at her feet as she waited for someone to come up. She kicked slightly at the gravel parking lot, watching as the small rocks bounced around. It wasn't until she heard what had to be a motorcycle pull into the parking lot and parked that she looked up.

She smiled to see the brutish form of Ward walking towards her. She began to walk towards him as well, meeting him halfway. Ward's hair was spiky once again and he had a decent beard too. And he had donned his brown jacket again.

Ward raised an eyebrow and pointed to the bar behind her, "We haven't seen each other in over a year and you wanted to meet at a bar?" he asked.

Skye shrugged, "I thought that we could finally get a proper drink." she replied with a slight smile. "And what's up with the motorcycle?"

"What, I can't ride one?" Ward questioned. "What's wrong with it?"

"Nothing. I meant, where the hell did you get it?"

Ward smiled slightly, fire sparking in his eyes, "I have my ways, Skye. And I needed some way to get around, and I'm not a big fan of cars."

"Why, because you're too big to fit into them?" Skye teased. "I'm gonna stick you in a Fiat one day to see what happens."

"Please don't."

"Well, I might." Skye turned around. "Come on, let's go inside before someone robs us or something."

"Why? Skye, no one's going to rob me. I mean, pretty much everyone that sees me is afraid to come around me."

"It was a joke,  _Robot_. And I can't help that you're the Iron Giant and you scare everyone with your height." Skye teased again. She grabbed his arm and started to pull him. "Let's go."

Ward sighed and rolled his eyes, letting Skye drag him into the bar. The two sat down at the bar's bar and Ward got them two beers. And Skye raised an eyebrow at this.

"What happened to you and whiskey or whatnot?" she asked.

Ward shrugged, "Lost its luster." he replied.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, alcohol doesn't affect me anymore. The fire in my veins probably burns it up. I can't get drunk, I can't drink my feelings away anymore. I don't even get a buzz anymore." Ward explained.

"How'd you figure that out?"

"Had a few bad nights, tried to drink everything away. Never worked, even after several drinks." Ward replied. "Again, lost its luster."

"Huh." Skye said, nodding slightly. "Well, that's… Upsetting. So, how has your 'year to yourself' been?" she asked, slightly smiling.

"Quiet. Very quiet."

Skye almost snorted, "Yeah, right. Drop the act, Grant. We all know that you haven't kept to yourself." she stated, looking him dead in the eyes.

Ward's face fell, "Wait, what? Have you been spying on me?!" he exclaimed, flabbergasted.

"Uh, hello, SHIELD? Remember? Coulson never kept his eye off of you. But it was mostly to check that you were okay. That you didn't relapse or had Biogen or Hydra capture you. We actually kept some people off of you." Skye explained. "What made you do it?"

"What, go after Biogen again?" Ward reiterated. "Revenge pretty much. And try to stop them from creating anymore monsters like me. They were still attempting the Paragon Program. But I think I destroyed it all." He lowered his voice, "Did you know that they had ties to Hydra?" he asked. "That's how they got the support for the project."

"Figures." Skye said, unsurprised. "It was probably all Hydra's idea anyways. No wonder why Hydra's communications lit up with the name 'Hellfire' for a few months."

"They're a bunch of bastards. A few Biogen 'facilities' were actually joint bases with Hydra. That was hell to break up. Again, a bunch of bastards." Ward said, shaking his head.

Skye smiled, "Then why did you work with them?" she asked.

Ward narrowed his eyes at her, "Don't start that now, Skye. I'd like to forget that." he stated coldly. He took a swig of his beer before continuing, "Why are you really here anyways?" he asked.

Skye bit her lip, "What? I just wanted to see you, that's all. That's not a good enough reason?"

Ward shook his head and laughed, "You want something. I see it in your eyes. Your eyes shine with a weird light when you want something."

"What? No they don't. How the hell can you tell?" Skye asked, confused.

"I spent plenty of time with you before the Hydra crap. You were always wanting something. I tend to learn, Skye." Ward stated. "Now, what do you want?"

Skye shook her head and smiled, "You got me, Grant. You're really good. I guess I can't fool people like you can." she replied. "I do want something. That's why I got you to meet me here. And I thought you had long enough to deal with things. Have you?"

"I guess so." Ward answered. "Powers are doing pretty well. Strength has actually leveled off. I'm not as strong as I was. Must've been a serum thing. But I'm still several times stronger than the average man. Same with my speed." he explained. "And only like a couple rage episodes. Not much."

Skye nodded, "Good."

"Still, what do you want, Skye?" Ward asked, getting impatient. "Just get on with it."

Skye laughed again. "Coulson thinks that it's a good time for you to come back." she stated.

Ward raised an eyebrow, "That's what this is all about? Trying to get me to go back to SHIELD?"

"I thought that you were open to it."

Ward snorted slightly and scratched at his beard, "Well, depends on what the conditions are. You're not arresting me and bringing me back in are you?" he questioned. "'Cause if that's the case, I'm out."

Skye rolled her eyes, "You really are an asshole."

"Comes with the package."

Skye sighed, "No, I'm not arresting you, asshole." she retorted. "There's no reason to. Well, at the moment anyways."

"I promise that you won't have to do so again. What are you wanting me to do?" Ward asked, turning his beer around in his hand. Skye could see small flames at his fingertips licking at the glass.

"You know that thing I talked about with you before you left?" Skye asked.

Ward scrunched his eyebrows, trying to remember, "Something about that damn team you're putting together?"

"It's not a 'damn team'."

"Uh, the Private Soldiers? No, or was it something about worms?" Ward asked, joking.

Skye sighed and rolled her eyes again, "Secret Warriors. I don't need the snark, Grant. You can drop it."

Ward shrugged, "Whatever. Are you wanting me to become the walking flamethrower of the team or something?" he asked.

"Something like that. Coulson's been helping me with it and thought that you would be a good fit after everything that happened. Thought you would want to have a chance to release those flames of yours without running around like some kind of vigilante."

"I don't do teams."

"You did until Hydra came up. And I know that you didn't fake that." Skye smiled. "You did pretty well for a robot."

Ward shook his head, "I'm not a robot, Skye."

"But you're still my Robot."

"We're still at that?"

"Maybe. But what do you say?" Skye asked, poking at her beer bottle. "It's a chance at something where you could do more good. And you don't have to risk yourself all by yourself."

Ward pursed his lips, "Hmm, let's see…" He finished off the rest of his beer and set the bottle back down. "If it was anyone else, I would say no. But I can't say no to you, Skye."

Skye's eyes widened and she smiled, "So is that a yes?" she asked.

"Sure. What the hell? I don't really have anything to lose. And being alone isn't all it's cracked up to be."

"So is 'Mr. I Want to be Alone' not really that way?" Skye joked. "Does he really need someone with him?"

Ward shrugged, "I really don't know. But it sounds weird when you put it that way. But you make things sound weird when they're not really so, Skye."

"So it's a yes?"

Ward nodded, "I guess so. Again, what do I have to lose?" he questioned. "Not much."

"Isn't that the truth."

"How did you even get here anyways?" he asked. "I'm surprised that you asked to meet me at the bar close to my apartment."

"Coulson brought me." Skye responded, taking a sip. "The base isn't that far from here. Only about fifty miles, not that far for Lola."

"Still don't know why he named that car." Ward stated, shaking his head. He suddenly came to his feet, towering over Skye, "Well, if you're wanting me to come with you, we should get going before it starts getting dark. That's when the thugs come here."

"Thugs?"

"Trust me, you don't want to see them. Almost got into a fight with a group of them a few months back. They'll run from anything with glowing, red eyes." Ward laughed slightly. "It's quite funny."

Skye sighed and stood up, "Do you want me to get Coulson to come back?" she asked.

Ward shook his head, "Nope. Thought that we could ride around for a bit. I imagine that you know the way back to the base."

Skye nodded, "Yes. But let me know before you decide on going. I need to let Coulson know so he won't have your motorcycle blown up with us on it." she replied. "He likes to know."

Ward took a breath, "Yeah, I know. He's Coulson. He likes to know everything that he can."

"So, we going?"

"Yep." Ward pulled out some cash out of his pocket and placed in on the counter by the empty bottles. "Don't want to be a beer thief."

Skye raised an eyebrow, "You are so weird."

"I'm not stealing beer, Skye. I'm not that petty."

"Well, whatever hothead, let's go before Coulson sends a team to hunt us down. He might end up thinking that you kidnapped me or something."

"I wouldn't do that, Skye. You know me now." Ward said, smiling.

"Actually, I don't." Skye said, taking Ward's hand. She laughed slightly, seeing Ward's face turn red. "But I do know that you're a sucker for me."

Ward grumbled and looked down.

"See? You are." Skye said, poking him in the chest. She started to drag him towards the door, "Let's go, Smokey."

Ward rolled his eyes and followed, their hands still connected. "You don't have to be in such a rush."

"You're the one that wanted to leave."

"Whatever."

And with that, the two left into the now-growing night. And it was also Ward's real chance to start again. Not just with SHIELD and the team, but with Skye as well. And that's what mattered the most to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the end! I hope you enjoyed!

**Author's Note:**

> Just another idea!


End file.
